2016 Cheltenham Festival ante post plays: My Tent Or Yours in Champion Hurdle
Published:
David Metcalf | January 21, 2016
Irish trainer Willie Mullins’ domination off the ante-post Cheltenham Festival markets is strongest in the Champion Hurdle, for which he has the top three fancies, but My Tent Or Yours looks decent value at 8/1 to spoil the party.
The gelding is yet to finish out of the frame in 14 starts under rules and has won six of his 10 starts over hurdles.
After finishing a fine second in the 2013 running of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, My Tent Or Yours went on to land a Grade 2 contest at Aintree before securing a brace of Grade 1 successes in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
The Nicky Henderson trained nine-year-old was then off the track for 14 months, and after making a winning return to action in a bumper at Kempton ran a cracker to finish runner-up to Jezki in the 2014 Champion Hurdle.
My Tent Or Yours in winning form
My Tent Or Yours came with a strong run after the last to go down by a diminishing 1/4 of a length, and finished 4 3/4 lengths in front of the fourth home Hurricane Fly.
Hurricane Fly was beaten 6 1/2 lengths when third to Faugheen in last year’s renewal, so on a line through Willie Mullins legend there is not much between the current red-hot 4/7 jolly Faugheen and My Tent Or Yours.
My Tent Or Yours was then not at his best when third in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr, and has been on the sidelines with injury ever since.
However, the fact that connections have persevered shows that they believe My Tent Or Yours retains plenty of ability and Henderson is a master at bringing horses back from injury.
The Lambourn handler, who along with Peter Easterby has won the Champion Hurdle a record five times, performed miracles when getting See You Then to land a hat-trick of successes in the 2m contest in 1985/86/87.
Henderson can work wonders again
See You Then had legs like glass and only have one or two races a season, and Henderson once joked that he was known as See You When rather than See You Then.
He also brought Binocular back from injury to land the spoils in 2010, and there is no trainer better at getting a horse right for the big day.
Jockey Barry Geraghty, who was aboard Jezki when he beat My Tent Or Yours in the 2014 Champion Hurdle, has also made no secret that he considers him to be the biggest threat to Faugheen.
My Tent Or Yours is likely to make his belated return to action in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on Saturday, February 20th.
Should he come through that test with flying colours his current odds of 8/1 with Coral for the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday, March 15th, are likely to halve.
Related
Coral’s ante post play: My Tent Or Yours each-way at 8/1 for the 2016 Champion Hurdle.
