The big curtain raiser at the Cheltenham Festival 2017 is the Supreme Novices Hurdle and the roar of Prestbury Park will be heard for the first time this year on March 14th. This is a cracking race because of the pace and the electric atmosphere to the start of the new Festival. Everyone is hoping to get off to a winning start, expectations are high and no-one has been hit with a loss. The young novices going off in this blockbusting Grade 1 race compete over the two mile gallop.
Famous past winners like Menorah and Douvan have set a blistering start to Cheltenham Festivals of the past and on March 14th, 2017, we are set to have another thrilling run off. The market is being headed up by 4/1 favourite Melon who was kept fully under wraps over the first half of the season. His first trip was in January this year and he didn’t disappoint in landing a huge victory at Leopardstown for Willie Mullins. There’s a lot of hype about Melon and that he can go on too much bigger things. This is the stage on which he can build the rest of career and he was effortless in that Donohue Marquees maiden Hurdle, crushing Broken Soul by 10 lengths. A huge prospect and if he keeps his cool, he is going to take some stopping.
Bookmakers have been afraid of what Melon may end up costing them in the Supreme Novices, and after the romp at Leopardstown, was cut from a 5/1 price down to 4/1 by online betting site Coral, with a spokesperson from the firm saying: “This is easily the most significant market move of the Cheltenham festival so far, both in terms of the volume of bets we have taken on Melon and the size of many of them.
“Melon is now almost certain to head to the Festival as, what has in recent years become, the traditional Willie Mullins-trained favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and more of them have won than lost.”
So Melon is shaping up as a huge liability in the antepost book for bookmakers and he laid down serious authority in that maiden hurdle of his. The question is will he be able to build on that experience when he comes under some heavier pressure in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham 2017? Challenger Ballyandy has been well backed as well in the market holding as joint second favourite but the whispers about Melon and that he could be something very, very special won’t go away and Mullins could have another Supreme winner on his hands.
Jockey Ruby Walsh has tried to temper down all the hype saying that the charge is going to need more experience under his belt to hit the potential levels that everyone is talking about, but Melon should be there or thereabouts for Mullins at Cheltenham, the trainer having dominated this race for the last five seasons. So Melon is carrying a big reputation into Supreme Novices Hurdle 2017 betting, so much so that even his relative inactivity over the course of the season isn’t going to stop punters from trusting what this horse can deliver.
Supreme Novices Hurdle 2017 Odds
Melon 4/1, Ballyandy 5/1, Moon Racer 6/1, Neon Wolf 6/1, Bunk Off Early 7/1, Movewiththetimes 9/1, Charli Parcs 14/1, Finians Oscar 14/1, River Wylder 14/1, Airlie Beach 16/1
If you are a member of Coral’s Bet and Get Club then you get yourself £10 in free bets for the Supreme Novices Hurdles. Opt in to the Bet & Get Club day 1 promotion and then go and stake a minimum of 25 on any sports (at odds of evens or greater) between Monday 6th March and 23.59 on Monday 13th March 2017 and you will GET £10 in free bets credited by 1pm Tuesday 14th March to use on the Supreme Novices Hurdle. Register an account with Coral now and you can opt in to the Bet & Club promotion for the CHeltenham Festival betting!
