Champion Bumper Tips

It’s the only race at the Cheltenham Festival were neither a flight or a fence are jumped, but the Champion Bumper is one of the most anticipated and well punted on races of the entire four days.

The winners and placers in this content generally go on to bigger and better things as their National Hunt career progresses, so it’s well worth taking a note of the result.

Let’s take a look at which horses are currently shaping the ante-post market for this 2m½f contest:

The Willie Mullins-trained It’s For Me (7/2) currently heads the betting which is hardly surprising.

Winner of a point-to-point when trained by Stuart Crawford team, he was moved across to Willie Mullins by owners Munir and Souede before running away with a Pro/Am Flat Race at Navan in January. The five-year-old was sent off the 4/9 favourite and he was still had plenty left in the tank as he passed the line ten lengths clear of the second horse. Based on that performance you can see why punters have being queuing up to back him.

Popular too in the betting is the John Kiely-trained A Dream To Share (5/1) Already a winner of his first three races, he was recently snapped up and purchased by legendary owner JP McManus from Brian Gleeson following his stylish performance in a Grade 2 bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Amateur rider John Gleeson, son of Brian, will ride the gelding again at Cheltenham. He has been on board for all three of A Dream To Share’s victories thus far so McManus is keeping loyal to him.

Fun Fun Fun (7/1) supporters could well get over excited if the Willie Mullins-trained mare takes home the loot at The Festival. She’s already two from two on the win front and she positively dotted up against her own sex at Leopardstown at the start of February.

The Simon Munir/Isaac Suede owned five-year-old is yet another strong arrow for those double-green colours to go into Bumper battle with.

Another owner with famous colours on the Irish racing scene is Ronnie Bartlett and his Flemensfirth-gelding Ballyburn (8/1) is yet another of Willie Mullins’ embarrassment of riches squad that has been assembled for the Champion Bumper.

A winner of his sole point-to-point, he was sent off the 7-4 second-favourite for his bumper at Punchestown and duly obliged under Patrick Mullins, scoring by a going away two-and-a-quarter-lengths.

Chapeau Du Soleil (9/1), again for Willie Mullins, is still quite fancied for this race despite tasting defeat at the hooves of Better Days Ahead at Fairyhouse. The gelding is bred to stay and he could well catapult the pink Ricci colours back into the Cheltenham limelight once more.

Gordon Elliott’s lowest priced entry in the bumper is the aforementioned Better Days Ahead (12/1). The five-year-old looks like one of Elliott’s best prospects in a race he has won twice before. Bective Stud have been loyal supporters of Gordon and it would nice to see them rewarded with a Festival winner in 2023.

Western Diego (12/1) was a £125,000 purchase after winning an Irish point-to-point and comfortably justified 6/5 favouritism when landing his Naas bumper at the end of January. The gelding is out of Westerner (top stayer) which will encourage many a punter to have an each-way flutter on him.

Gordon Elliott’s Pour Les Filles (14/1) is another runner with sounds claims in this wide open contest. The Pour Moi-gelding won at Leopardstown on Boxing Day from Did I Ask You That in a fairly respectable time and will be an attractive pick at 14/1 for many.

Suggested bet:

With Mullins entering an armada of horses into the Champion Bumper, it is really quite a minefield to work out who exactly is the “one”.

Based upon the replays I have watched I am going to side with Fun Fun Fun who will be bidding to be the first mare to win this race since Relegate in 2018. She really looks like she can land a race of this nature.