Should Lossiemouth be so short for Champion Hurdle?

There are a couple of bigger-priced suggestions too so tune in to get the thoughts of Ed Chamberlin, David Johnson, Billy Nash and Matt Brocklebank alongside host David Ord.

'He's rock-solid'

Chamberlin, who has openly backed Sir Gino for the Arkle, reflected on the weekend’s events which saw Nicky Henderson’s four-year-old land the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.

He said: "Strangely, I’m more hopeful and confident about him going chasing now than I was this time last week. And that’s having bolted up in the Fighting Fifth.

“It was a shame, Mystical Power is a bit of a loon actually – he was very highly strung and obviously he didn’t show up really. Sir Gino is a mercurial talent, he really is. I’ve seen the schooling (videos) as well and you can see there’s temptation, with the allowances and so on, to send him over fences.

“And Ruby, on the ITV coverage, how many times did he mention Anzadam when we were on air?! I was thinking ‘who is this horse?’, and then he went and did that. Ruby talked about him even more afterwards. Which again plays into our (Arkle backers) hands, hoping that Sir Gino goes chasing.

“So, I still haven’t given up hope. I thought on Saturday, you could crab the form all you want but he’s just so talented, he really is.

“Marie Donnelly, what she’s doing for WellChild, it means a lot to me really, I think it’s really cool. And then Lossiemouth, what I love most about her was that on Thursday I was at the Peter O'Sullevan lunch with Willie and Henderson getting on like a house on fire – but the mind games between them are sensational.

“It’s so unlike Mullins to pick a target straight away and say they’re eyeing up the Christmas Hurdle. Just to give Nicky even less sleep with Constitution Hill. The mind games from Willie were absolutely brilliant.

“Who would I back in the Champion right now? I think I’d probably back State Man actually.

“We say it so often, a really top mare getting 7lb is deadly in this division and Lossiemouth might be that, but her price reflects that and I still think State Man blew up (in the Morgiana). He’s rock-solid. He’s probably a little bit of value at 9/2.”

'Her jumping was really slick'

Timeform reporter Billy Nash feels Lossiemouth was seen to best effect over the weekend but expects she will now really kick on to become an elite performer.

He said: "The Hatton’s Grace was set up absolutely perfectly for Lossiemouth, they couldn't have drawn it any better for her if they wanted considering they were up against three from the Gordon Elliott camp.

"It turned into a test of speed, I think Timeform called the Fairyhouse ground on Sunday good which again wouldn’t have suited Teahupoo. Everything played into her hands but she was still very impressive with what she did.

“The mistake she made four-out probably helped Paul (Townend) in that it just kept him behind Maxxum for a couple of strides, she seemed to get her second wind and just in the straight then she blasted past them – she was really impressive, she won more of a less on the bridle.

“You’d have to say it’s onwards and upwards from here, she’s 9/10 over hurdles now, she does everything right and she has all the attributes you’d like to see in a Champion Hurdle horse and, bar that one mistake, her jumping was really slick.

“She has tons of speed, she stays two and a half miles well, will get the allowances at Cheltenham and she’s going to take an awful lot of beating. It’s going to be interesting to see as it could be a tough decision for Paul later in the season if State Man does come back to what we know he’s capable of. It’ll be a big decision over which one he’s going to ride.”

'14/1 about her could easily shorten'

David Johnson feels there could be a spot of value with another mare in the Champion Hurdle picture.

He argued: “I don’t really have an issue with her (Lossiemouth) being 2/1 favourite, I’ve no qualms about that, but I certainly wouldn’t be interested in backing her. I think Brighterdaysahead is the one that looks a stonking bet at 14/1 and I’m going to back her.

“You take the risk that she maybe won’t run but at that price she’s the one that has serious potential to shorten because presumably she’s going to go and take on State Man again.

“The market is taking the view that she was fortunate to beat State Man the other day, I don’t necessarily buy into that and if she goes and beats him at Christmas or at the DRF then they’re going to find it quite difficult to resist the temptation to go for a Champion Hurdle.

“So, 14/1 about her could easily shorten.”

'She could be an even-money shot by the New Year'

Sporting Life’s Value Bet columnist Matt Brocklebank isn’t keen on the idea of opposing last year’s Mares’ Hurdle winner Lossiemouth, saying: “You’d love to see Constitution Hill (in the Christmas Hurdle), you really do want him in there – whether that’s absolutely at his best again or just at 80 or 90%, it really would be exciting to see him back.

“It’s so good to have this potential depth in the Champion Hurdle but I think Lossiemouth could be odds-on before we know, I’d expect one more run to confirm that. You’ve got State Man who will probably go and do what State Man does in the Matheson Hurdle, then Constitution Hill is a big question mark, but wherever Lossiemouth goes – if she goes and wins again as she did, then I think she’ll be really short, she could be an even-money shot by the New Year.

“I appreciate the Brighterdaysahead suggestion and a bit of a left-field one but I’d love to see Absurde get chucked into the picture as well but I think he could be seeking more riches on the Flat elsewhere for the time being. But it’s a good division and we now have Anzadam in the mix too.”

'We’re going to be hearing a lot more about him'

Nash suggests that Anzadam – a general 20/1 chance for Cheltenham on the back of his striking Irish debut success at Fairyhouse - still has plenty more to prove if he’s to become a legitimate Champion Hurdle contender.

He fleshed out that view: “He did is really, really impressively. Look, he ran to a Timeform rating of 146p which is a long way removed from what he’d need to be to be considered a live Champion Hurdle contender.

“But it was the manner of victory. He’d been off for over a year and yet everything he was up against had had a run this season, and had either won or been placed on their most recent outing. So they came into the race fit and in-form, and he absolutely destroyed them.

“He did plenty wrong in the early stages as he was a bit keen and made some mistakes but when Paul shook him up early in the straight, the response was instant. He had loads in the tank and Townend said it took a while to pull him up.

“Where they go now if the big one and there aren’t many options for four-year-olds over here (in Ireland) so the International Hurdle was mentioned. They’ll want to keep him away from State Man too.

“So it’s presumably going to be in Britain – his next start – but he’s got massive potential, he will win a good Graded hurdle this year and he mightn’t be Champion Hurdle class but even looking at him he’s got the size to make a chaser in 12 months’ time and we’re going to be hearing a lot more about him.”

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