Champion Bumper Odds
Day two at Cheltenham Festival climaxes with The Weatherbys Champion Bumper NH Flat Race.
This event starts at 5.15pm and is ran over a distance of two miles and half a furlong. The Champion Bumper is a Class A Grade 1 flat race.
There is a total prize fund of £60,000 up for grabs, which is only open to those horses who are ages between 4 and 6 years old.
This race in unique among the events held over the duration of the Cheltenham Festival, in so much that it is the only flat race held over all four days.
It is one of the most popular events at the festival, and it is easy to see why, as it attracts some of the most electrifying young horses and jockeys that the sport has to offer
Five is the magic number where the Champion Bumper is concerned. Since its inception only four horse who were not of 5 years of age have managed to win the event, with two of those happening in the last two years.
The Champion Bumper is a relatively new event to Cheltenham, it was first seen as early ago as 1992, where 5-year-old Montelado, trained by Pat Flynn set the tone for many great races to come.
Despite the event being a relative newcomer, it has gone by a variety of names, including; the Prestige Medical Festival Bumper, the Bi Group Festival Bumper, the Bromsgrove Industries Festival Bumper, the Guinness Festival Bumper and the Tote Festival Bumper.
Irish-trained horses dominate the race’s history, with victories in 14 of its 17 outings.
Willie Mullins has a particularly golden record at this event, having won an impressive five times, the last being in 2008 with his horse Cousin Vinny.
Last year the Champion Bumper was won by the four-year-old CueCard, who came in at 40/1 odds and was trained by C Tizzard.
Al Ferof set the pace for the event, leading all the way up until the home straight, but it was Cue Card who finally took the initiative.
For 2011, all signs point towards a winner coming from one of the top runners, with eight of the last eleven winners being found within the top six.
