Key Points
- My first horse racing betting tip for today’s double runs in the Champion Hurdle
- The second horse I’ve selected will run in the Mares’ Hurdle
- Combining these two selections as a double is the clever way to play here
First and foremost, I hope that all of you reading this had a fantastic Christmas with your loved ones! Now, let’s get into what you came here for, my betting tips. It's fairly quiet on the racing front today, compared to the past few days, so I have decided to look ahead to the Cheltenham Festival instead. My double will be a controversial one but I think it’s a clever play, both from a betting perspective and for the horses concerned.
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Betting advice
A
2pt Win Double
with combined odds of 8.63/1
- Tuesday 10 March 2026 - Champion Hurdle -
Sir Gino
@ 7/4
- Thursday 12 March 2026 - Mares' Hurdle -
Lossiemouth
@ 5/2
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What the public wants and what will happen are two different things!
Again and again on social media, you will see racing fans saying that this horse “should” go there or it “has to” go there. But no matter how much noise there is on social media, the connections of the horse decide where it goes. More often than not, that will be where it has the best chance of winning, and I think that will come to the fore again here.
The Champion Hurdle - Sir Gino @ 7/4
The first leg of our antepost double is Sir Gino to win the Champion Hurdle. Now, I as much as anybody would have loved to see his stablemate Constitution Hill win the race. However, after yet another fall, his third in four starts, it sadly looks extremely unlikely now.
Whilst initially set to go down the Champion Chase route, Nicky Henderson has now changed plans and is directing Sir Gino at the Champion Hurdle in Constitution Hill’s place. With former Champion Hurdle winners - Constitution Hill and State Man both out of contention, it looks a wide open renewal that was crying out for a superstar and now it has one once again.
I think Sir Gino is an exceptionally talented horse and I would think that he’d give most horses a run for their money whether over hurdles or fences. However, I don’t believe the expected line up for the Champion Hurdle looks all that strong and if he can get to the race fit and healthy, I think he will take an awful lot of beating. I also think his presence will also defect a few away from the race to other targets, as I will come onto shortly.
The Mares' Hurdle - Lossiemouth @ 5/2
Speaking of defecting, that brings me onto the second leg in our double which is Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle. This will be a controversial one that plenty will disagree with. However, despite being well touted for the Champion Hurdle last season, she was put into the Mares’ Hurdle and won it very comfortably.
I think we will see a similar story in 2025/26. If Nicky Henderson didn’t have Sir Gino to step into the race, Lossiemouth would be favourite, and she may well have gone for it. However, I feel that Sir Gino would be too strong for her (he is an out and out two miler) and in my opinion, she is not. I think he would simply have more speed than she could handle and would beat her.
Willie Mullins’ job is to win races with his horses, and at the top level, to deliver Cheltenham Festival winners. I think he will simply be of the mindset that the Mares’ Hurdle is largely a point and shoot, whereas he is likely to come off second best in a Champion Hurdle. Some would argue that a second in the Champion Hurdle is more prestigious than a win in the Mares’ Hurdle but whether right or wrong, the record book shows the winners, and they are the horses remembered. The question asked is how many Cheltenham Festival winners did Willie train, not how many second places in the Champion Hurdle he achieved
Combining these two horses in a double is the clever play here
The interesting part about this is that you can combine both selections in a single bet despite them having a large influence on one another. As a general rule, bets that can impact one other i.e. related contingencies cannot be combined. For example, you typically wouldn’t be able to bet something like Lionel Messi to win the Golden Boot and to win the World Cup. The reason being that the more goals he scores, the more likely it is that Argentina will win the World Cup.
However, for antepost betting on the horses, you can combine these selections despite the link they share. If Lossiemouth goes to the Mares’ Hurdle instead, winning the Champion Hurdle becomes much easier for Sir Gino, and he subsequently goes off at a much shorter price. Realistically if these two separate into two different races as I expect them to, I would be surprised if they didn’t both go off at odds on for their respective races. You certainly won’t see the 7/4 and 5/2 that they are currently priced at.
For that reason, I think the 8.63/1 on offer for the double is exceptional value. Yes, there is a risk that Lossiemouth could go for glory in the Champion Hurdle, but at the prices, I’m willing to take that risk. I believe it’s far more likely that she will go for the easier win. As the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush!
Can this pair deliver and give us a winning double?
Sir Gino is the stand out horse in the Champion Hurdle division, especially if Lossiemouth doesn’t turn up to face him. Lossiemouth has dominated the Mares’ Hurdle division for the last two seasons and I cannot see that changing if she opts for a third go at the race.
As touched upon in the prior section, if these two horses split into the Champion Hurdle and the Mares’ Hurdle as I expect, they will likely both go off at very short odds. You would probably be lucky to get an odds against price for the double, never mind their individual prices, so 8.63/1 for the double really is fantastic value.
Of course, there is the risk that Lossiemouth does get aimed at the Champion Hurdle, in which case the Mares’ Hurdle leg will go down and unfortunately, so will the double. With any antepost bet, there is always the risk that they don’t make the race, and for the last two years Sir Gino didn’t make it to the Cheltenham Festival, so it is a real risk. With all facts considered, there is too much value in this double for me to ignore it, and I feel it is well worth a strong 2pt bet at the current price.
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