Distance specialist Allaho heavy favorite in Ryanair Chase
At distances around 2 1/2 miles, Allaho has been unbeatable since the beginning of 2021, the reason the 8-year-old will be an odds-on favorite to win Thursday’s Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse in England.
Trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, Allaho has won four of his last five starts, with the wins at distances of 2 1/2 miles or 2 9/16 miles. The only loss in that span was a second in the two-mile Champion Chase at Punchestown Racecourse in Ireland last April.
In Thursday’s $489,300 Ryanair Chase at 2 9/16 miles, Allaho will be on familiar territory. He won the 2021 Ryanair Chase by 12 lengths as the 3-1 favorite. British bookmakers listed Allaho at 8-13 as of Tuesday.
Allaho, who will be ridden by Paul Townend, is unbeaten in two starts during the current wintertime jump season, with graded stakes wins at 2 9/16 miles at Punchestown on Dec. 5 and Thurles on Jan. 23. In each of those wins, and in the 2021 Ryanair Chase, Allaho set the pace.
In Thursday’s Ryanair Chase, Allaho is a standout in a field of nine, with Conflated, another Irish shipper, rated as the second choice at 6-1. Trained by Gordon Elliott, Conflated won the Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup at 3 1/16 miles at Leopardstown on Feb. 5 at 18-1.
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Thursday is the third of four days of the National Hunt festival at Cheltenham, which concludes on Friday. The seven-race Thursday program begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern or 6:30 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
There are two other Grade 1 races on the program – the $228,300 Turner Novices’ Chase at about 2 1/2 miles, and the $424,000 Stayers’ Hurdle at three miles.
The Novices’ Chase drew an embarrassingly small field of four led by Bob Olinger, a 7-year-old gelding who won the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last March and is unbeaten in two starts over the tougher fences in recent months.
The Stayers’ Hurdle is wide open with good chances for Champ, Flooring Porter, Klassical Dream, Paisley Park, and Thyme in a field of 10.
Paisley Park, 6-1 in early betting on Tuesday, won the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle, was seventh in 2020, and third to Flooring Porter last year. Now a 10-year-old, Paisley Park beat Champ by three lengths in the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle at three miles at Cheltenham on Jan. 29.
Honeysuckle wins Champion Hurdle
Honeysuckle became the first mare to win two runnings of the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle at two miles on Tuesday’s first day of the Cheltenham festival, extending her unbeaten streak to 15 races.
Ridden by Rachael Blackmore for trainer Henry de Bromhead, Honeysuckle ($3) took her customary position as a stalker, moved into contention in the final half-mile and took the lead after jumping the second-to-last hurdle.
Honeysuckle pulled away through the uphill run to the wire to finish 3 1/2 lengths in front of another mare, 15-1 Epatante, who won the 2020 Champion Hurdle. Zanahiyr (20-1) finished third.
Honeysuckle, 8, had her first start in November 2018. Tuesday’s $586,200 Champion Hurdle was Honeysuckle’s 11th win in a Grade 1 race for owner Kenny Alexander, the former chief executive of GVC, a European gambling company.