Champion Hurdle Value The eagerly awaited Cheltenham Festival begins in two week's time and as the final preparations take place we look ahead to the first of the big prizes up for grabs — The Stan James Champion Hurdle. The Champion Hurdle is the feature race on the first day of Cheltenham and is always a thrilling contest as the best hurdlers in Britain and Ireland do battle over two miles. Last year's winner Buveur D'air is most punters idea of the banker of the meeting as he bids to post back-to-back victories. Beveur D'air is unbeaten for two years and posted a fast time when slamming his stablemate My Tent Or Yours by four and a half lengths in last year's renewal. The bookmakers are taking no chances with the Nicky Henderson trained seven-year-old and he is currently trading at odds of 1/2 which will deter most average punters. If you are interested seeking out a bit of value in the Champion Hurdle market check out Cheltenham betting which is a one stop shop for all Cheltenham related free bets and special offers from the leading bookmakers. 888sport will give you £5 free bets for any race if you bet £10 on the first race. Betfair is offering the Non Runner No Bet offer on all the Cheltenham Championship Races. William Hill is offering Best Odds Guaranteed. While Coral, Paddy Power and Betway all have a range of tempting offers to entice new customers. So if you don't fancy taking short odds about Beveur D'air what is your best strategy for playing on the Champion Hurdle? Well backing something to beat the favourite doesn't look like a good option as serious contenders are thin on the ground. Willie Mullins has 6 of the 19 entries but is yet to confirm which will run. Mullins has won the race four times in recent years including in 2015 with Faugheen which is one of his sextet of possibles this year. So his runners have to be given the utmost respect but none of his entries have had an ideal preparation and in truth it will be a surprise if he can dethrone the Champion. Last year's runner-up My Tent Or Yours could well emerge as the one to chase Beveur D'air home again. At eleven years of age he is reaching the twilight of his career but he has been trained with this one race in mind and there are not too many miles on his clock — this race will be the 25th of his career. My Tent Or Yours has actually finished runner-up in each of the last three Champion Hurdles and his record over the course is 222221. At odds of 5/2 without Beveur D'air with Paddy Power the favourite's stablemate is the value bet in this year's Champion Hurdle.
