Irish Champion Hurdle Live Streaming: Hurricane Fly & Binocular feature online at Leopardstown for punters
Its the Irish Champion Hurdle today as Paddy Power release the latest odds on the race, including live streaming options which involves Hurricane Fly, & Binocular in this pointer for the Cheltenham Festival.
The Leopardstown Champion Hurdle is the feature race on a brilliant day’s racing at Leopardstown on Sunday, as Hurricane Fly puts his unbeaten five-race run at the Irish track on the line.
All roads lead to the Cheltenham Festival for Willie Mullins’ star hurdler as he looks to become the first horse in history to regain a Champion Hurdle crown after relinquishing it.
The top-class hurdler beat Peddlers Cross in the 2011 Champion Hurdle before only finishing third behind Rock On Ruby in the 2012 despite going off a seemingly unbeatable favorite according to many punters. He has been well supported to break the Cheltenham Festival hoodoo this year and is the second favourite in the Champion Hurdle market at the ante-post stage.
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But first, he must continue on his road to Prestbury Park by taking in the Ireland’s feature hurdle race of the season – a race he has won for the last two seasons.
Paddy Power have installed Hurricane Fly as the 2/7 favourite for the Leopardstown Champion Hurdle and if he performs to the level which he has shown on his last two starts, then that skinny odds-on price could be a case of buying money.
The horse put his disappointing performance at Cheltenham – which was only his second defeat in 16 races over hurdles in the UK and Ireland –behind him with victories in the Morgiana and the Istabraq Festival Hurdle in the latter stages of 2012.
He was given a tougher race than expected when Go Native threw down a big challenge but fell at the final fence in the Morgiana whilst things were simpler in the Istabraq, where he routed the field on heavy conditions without coming off the bridle.
That performance merited various bookmakers cutting his odds for Cheltenham to 7/2 and there is strong support around for the Fly.
For those that believed he has the capabilities to win the Irish and English Champion Hurdles, taking advantage of Paddy Power’s 4/1 on him doing so could be a play to consider.
Is there anything in the field to trouble him this Sunday? Well, despite the vastly short odds, yes there is. Former Champion Hurdler from 2010 Binocular, who has won 11 of his 20 races over hurdles, has been entered by his trainer Nicky Henderson.
This does give the race an added edge to it as Binocular, despite being an enigmatic character, is top-class on his day and could still be capable at nine-years-old of giving Hurricane Fly plenty of problems.
Formbook studiers will no doubt point to the last time the pair met, when Henderson’s runner finished just one length behind him in the 2012 Champion Hurdle.
On that line of form, Binocular’s price of 9/2 with Bet365, which has been very popular in the last few days, could be one worth considering. However, this is his first outing of the season and Henderson has been coy regarding the horse’s ability to be ready to fire on full cylinders first time out.
He has been beaten on his seasonal reappearance for the last three seasons – all in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. In the 2009 running he was thrashed by Punjabi, in 2010 by Peddlers Cross and in 2011 by Overturn. That statistic will be playing on punters minds.
Thousand Stars is an 8/1 shot for the race but is probably being used as a pacemaker for Hurricane Fly by Mullins, whilst Captain Cee Bee, a 25/1 shot with Paddy Power, was beaten seven and a half lengths by Hurricane Fly last time out. Both have it all to do to stop the fantastic Fly.
