Cheltenham 2025: Three Festival Clashes To Look Forward To
The Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the National Hunt season, and what makes it so special is the mouthwatering clashes that take place.
In this article, we look at the best three match-ups that would get the juices flowing for any racing fan.
We also have the latest odds offered by betting sites for some of the big races of the week.
Turners Novices' Hurdle (13:20 Wednesday) Final Demand Vs The New Lion
The Turners Novices' Hurdle gets proceedings underway on Day Two of the meeting and it looks like a straight shootout between the Irish and English as Final Demand and The New Lion dominate the market with betting apps.
Final Demand was sent off the 4/7 favourite to win a maiden hurdle at Limerick after an impressive point-to-point victory at Lingstown.
The Walk In The Park gelding won by an easy 15 lengths, which got connections dreaming that they may have a quality horse on their hands.
The six-year-old stepped up to Grade One level for the DRF at Leopardstown and once again won in commanding fashion to beat Wingman by 12 lengths.
On the other side of the sea, The New Lion has emerged as a potential top-class prospect for Dan Skelton.
A winner of all three starts over hurdles, he was upped in class for the Grade One Challow Novices Hurdle at Newbury, and he hardly had to come off the bridle to win with a swagger.
He was rumoured to have been purchased for £1m after that win.
The sky remains the limit for both horses as it looks set to be one of the clashes of the week.
Mares Novices' Hurdle (13:20 Thursday) Sixandahalf Vs Maughreen
The Mares Novices' Hurdle has been moved to the opening race on Day Three of the meeting and the Irish pair of Sixandahalf and Maughreen are battling for favouritism with horse racing betting sites.
Sixandahalf shot to the head of the market after a commanding win at Fairyhouse, where she beat Qualimita by 12 lengths, with the highly touted Kimi De Mai a disappointing third.
Gavin Cromwell recorded a notable Grade 1 double at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021, winning the Stayers' Hurdle with Flooring Porter and the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle with Vanillier.
The Irish trainer will be hoping she can follow in their footsteps and give him his seventh Cheltenham Festival winner.
Since the Mares Novices' Hurdle was introduced to the Festival in 2016, Willie Mullins has won the first five runnings of the race, but he has failed to maintain his dominance.
The Closutton team will surely have several runners, but there is no doubt who Paul Townend will be riding as Maughreen appears to be the standout runner.
An 11-length winner of a Mares Flat race last season, we had to wait another year to see her again as her debut was held up through injury.
But she continued where she left off and easily won her hurdles debut to solidify her position near the head of affairs for the Mares Novices’ Hurdle.
Both horses lack experience but are held in the highest regard by their stables, and this looks set to be a cracker for getting Day Three of Cheltenham underway.
Since the Mares Novices' Hurdle was introduced to the Festival in 2016, Willie Mullins has won the first five runnings of the race, but he has failed to maintain his dominance.
The Closutton team will surely have several runners, but there is no doubt who Paul Townend will be riding as Maughreen appears to be the standout runner.
An 11-length winner of a Mares Flat race last season, we had to wait another year to see her again as her debut was held up through injury.
But she continued where she left off and easily won her hurdles debut to solidify her position near the head of affairs for the Mares Novices’ Hurdle.
Both horses lack experience but are held in the highest regard by their stables, and this looks set to be a cracker for getting Day Three of Cheltenham under way.
Triumph Hurdle (13:20 Friday) Lulamba Vs East India Dock
The Triumph Hurdle kicks off Gold Cup Day on Friday, and what a clash we have in store as Lulamba and East India Dock lock horns.
Lulamba was an easy winner of a hurdle race in Auteuil and was quickly snapped up by Joe Donnelly.
So far it looks like money well spent as he heads the market for the Triumph Hurdle.
Sent off the 4/5 favourite for his UK debut at Ascot, he won in impressive style to beat Mondo Man by over three lengths.
Although he doesn’t have graded form in the book, he is priced up on reputation more than anything, but it would be no surprise to see him give Nicky Henderson his eighth Triumph Hurdle success.
East India Dock has been near the head of the ante-post Triumph Hurdle market all season, and it’s easy to see why.
The Golden Horn gelding showed his class in the Grade Two Juvenile Hurdle trial, where he bolted up by 18 lengths, and many had him earmarked for Festival glory after that win.
He followed that up with another impressive display over course and distance at Cheltenham and he could be hard to peg back in the Triumph if allowed to dictate the race from the front.
