Spirit Leader backed for Champion Hurdle
The seven-year old mare, trained in Ireland by Jessica Harrington, won two highly-competitive and valuable handicap hurdles in the second half of last season.
“Punters were rewarded wonderfully for their belief in this sturdy mare when she won the Tote Gold Trophy at 14-1 and the County Hurdle at 10-1 last season,” said Balthazar Fabricius of Ladbrokes.
“We laid a bet of £1,000 to win £25,000 on Spirit Leader for the Champion Hurdle this afternoon, so we now trade at 16s.”
Reigning champion Rooster Booster was trimmed to 11-4 from 7-2 with Coral after attracting decent support yesterday.
Smurfit Champion Hurdle betting: Ladbrokes: 11-4 Rooster Booster, 9-2 Rhinestone Cowboy, 10-1 Back In Front, 12-1 Intersky Falcon, 16-1 Spirit Leader, 20-1 Sporazene, 25-1 Lingo, Self Defense, 33-1 bar.
Coral: 11-4 Rooster Booster, 9-2 Rhinestone Cowboy, 10-1 Back In Front, 16-1 Intersky Falcon, Spirit Leader, Sporazene, 20-1 Specular, Davenport Milenium, 25-1 Kicking King, Our Vic, Self Defense, Flame Creek, 33-1 bar.
Meanwhile, Iris’s Gift’s return to action has been delayed due to a problem picked up in the summer while out of training.
Jonjo O’Neill’s charge is as short as 7-4 in some books for the Bonusprint Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, a race in which he finished a three-quarters of a length second to Baracouda last season. However, the six-year-old has not raced since winning at Aintree in April.
“Iris’s Gift wasn’t quite right in the summer and as a result was late coming back into training, so we’ve got off to a slow start with him,” O’Neill said.
“I expect he’ll undergo another test or two and we’ll take it from there, though I’ve every reason to believe he’ll be out quite soon after Christmas.”
