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Cheltenham festival day one tips: Brighterdaysahead can upset Constitution Hill in Champion Hurdle

Cheltenham festival day one tips: Brighterdaysahead can upset Constitution Hill in Champion Hurdle

The Guardian10-03-2025

Constitution Hill has seen off every challenge with ease in winning all 10 of his races to date, but he could be facing his sternest opponent so far in Tuesday's Champion Hurdle and Brighterdaysahead (4.00) can also boast the strongest recent piece of form in the field.
The Neville Hotels Hurdle at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting was set up for Brighterdaysahead by a front-running stable companion, while State Man, the defending champion on Tuesday, was clearly not at his best and finished a long way behind Gordon Elliott's mare.
Yet Brighterdaysahead still put a remarkable 30 lengths between herself and the runner-up, and did so in an exceptionally fast time under the conditions. Taking her 7lb mares' allowance into account, Timeform's ratings suggest that performance puts her just 3lb behind Constitution Hill's best-ever run, in the Supreme Novice Hurdle at this meeting all of three years ago.
Constitution Hill is undoubtedly one of the greatest hurdlers of all time, but there may be much less between the market principals than the betting suggests and as a result, Brighterdaysahead looks seriously overpriced at around 9-4.
Cheltenham 1.20: Kopek Des Bordes is the first of four hot favourites in the opening day's Grade One events and a repeat of his level of form at the Dublin Racing Festival in February should be enough to get the punters onto the front foot. The visual impression of his 13-length success was backed up by a very fast time and he has as much, if not more, scope for improvement as any of his rivals.
Cheltenham 2.00: The odds-on Majborough, last year's Triumph winner, is top-rated on his winning Grade One form at Leopardstown in February but he took a while to warm to the task there and L'Eau Du Sud could prove a very tricky opponent. His jumping has been all but flawless in four starts this season and Majborough may need to be equally foot-perfect to prevail, which suggests Dan Skelton's runner must the bet at around 4-1.
Cheltenham 2.40: Irish stables are 0-32 in this since 2016, a period when their runners have battered the domestic opposition elsewhere at the festival, but they have started to pepper the target over the last couple of years and Paul Gilligan's novice Sequestered is a live contender at around 16-1. The seven-year-old was useful over hurdles but is already much better over fences and has acquitted himself very well in valuable big-field handicaps at Leopardstown on his last two start while also promising better still to come.
Cheltenham 3.20: A straightforward repeat of last year's odds-on success looks on the cards for Lossiemouth after the decision to switch her from the Champion Hurdle.
Cheltenham: 1.20 Kopek Des Bordes 2.00 L'Eau Du Sud 2.40 Sequestered (nap) 3.20 Lossiemouth 4.00 Brighterdaysahead 4.40 Liam Swagger 5.20 Now Is The Hour (nb).
Sedgefield: 1.38 Demoiselle Kap 2.18 Bond Broker 2.58 Fearless Action 3.38 Super Saint 4.18 Cave Article 4.53 Ce Mi Run.
Wolverhampton: 4.30 Em Jay Kay 5.00 Enzos Angel 5.30 Mr Cool 6.00 Siobhanbrogan 6.30 Manton Road 7.00 Seas Of Elzaam 7.30 Till It Shines 8.00 Coconut Bay 8.30 Ciera G.
Southwell: 5.05 King Of Speed 5.40 Westmorian 6.15 Powdering 6.45 Sneaky Blinder 7.15 Hammer The Hammer 7.45 Jeans Maite 8.15 One More Dream.
Cheltenham 4.40: The up-and-coming James Owen stable could get a first festival win on the board here with Liam Swagger, who has already improved on his useful Flat form over hurdles and has a very workable mark after a light campaign with no run over jumps since December.
Cheltenham 5.20: Now Is The Hour could find plenty of improvement for this step up to a marathon trip and Gavin Cromwell's record with runners at Cheltenham in general and the festival above all is exceptional.

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Former trainer Peter Easterby dies aged 95
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Five star performers for trainer Peter Easterby
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In a training career spanning 46 years, Easterby won major races at all the premier meetings under both codes – Cheltenham, Aintree, Royal Ascot, York and Doncaster. When he handed the reins to his son, Tim, in 1996, the only real change was the name on the licence as it was basically business as usual. It was a move typical of him that with a younger man at the helm, it would give Habton Grange stables in North Yorkshire the impetus, if any was needed, as the millennium approached. The transition was not only seamless, but barely noticeable with the winners being churned out as they always had been. Easterby, christened Miles Henry, had the rare achievement of sending out more than 1,000 winners under both codes, having taken up training in 1950 following the completion of his National Service. His career ran parallel for decades with his brother Mick, two years his junior. The pair have been giants of the racing scene in Yorkshire – and reputed to own a lot of it between them. Peter Easterby was champion jumps trainer for three consecutive seasons from 1978 to 1981 and had a total of 13 Cheltenham Festival winners in just 10 years. Five Champion Hurdles and two Cheltenham Gold Cups were his best achievements over jumps, while handicaps were his territory on the Flat with the Lincoln, Chester Cup, Ebor and Ayr Gold Cup among the many he farmed. Born on August 5, 1929, he learnt his trade assisting his uncle Walter and honed his skills during a three-year stint with Irishman Frank Hartigan at Weyhill in Hampshire. He first held a licence in 1950 and showed his intent when in 1951 he cycled five miles to get a lift in a horse box to the Newmarket sales. He got back home via a furniture van, bus and bike. He spent £380 on three yearlings and had sold them all within 24 hours. His first winner came over jumps in 1953 and his first on the level in 1955. His breakthrough year was 1965 when he won the Lincoln at Doncaster with Old Tom and the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot with Goldhill. Two years later, he won the Champion Hurdle for the first time with Saucy Kit, a horse he bought at the sales for 700 guineas as a three-year-old. Easterby paid 1,100 guineas for Night Nurse, who was his favourite horse, winning the Champion Hurdle in 1976 and 1977. He was not afraid to have a good bet and admitted backing Night Nurse three times before the 1977 renewal after his price drifted as it was felt he would not handle the heavy ground. Easterby knew different. Sea Pigeon, who joined his team during the winter of 1976-77 from Gordon Richards, took the crown in 1980 and 1981 after finishing second in the two previous years. He was also a classy Flat performer, winning the Chester Cup in 1977 and 1978 plus three Vaux Gold Tankards and the Ebor under top weight of 10st in 1979, albeit after a heart-stopping photo finish. Easterby had a permanent reminder of his two superstars as they were buried side by side less than 50 yards from his office window. Night Nurse went close to completing the Champion/Gold Cup double when runner-up to stablemate Little Owl in 1981. Alverton had won chasing's blue riband prize for Easterby in 1979. Other famous names in an enormous list of his big-race winners and popular performers included Bronze Hill, Sonnen Gold, Clayside and Ryeman. His legacy lives on with the highly-successful Tim, grandson William and the rest of the Easterby dynasty that will continue to grace Yorkshire and the racing world beyond.

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