Will Two Mares Battle it Out in the Champion Hurdle in 2022?

The Champion Hurdle is the premier hurdle race for horses over two miles, and the first of four championship races that take place at the Cheltenham Festival, the biggest nation hunt racing festival on the calendar.

Last year, Irish mare Honeysuckle was brilliant, winning the race with ease, while a year earlier, we saw another mare, Epatante, win the race in great style. The latter named was not at her best last season, but will this season be a real clash between these two mares?

All eyes are on the festival right now, with key prep races taking place, so it is always an idea for racing fans to check out today’s horse racing results to see what stories have taken place. Honeysuckle will hit the headlines in her prep run at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, she is already an 8/11 favourite to retain her Champion Hurdle crown. Behind her, three horses are priced up at single figure odds, with Epatante being one of those, she is currently 9/1 to win her title back.

Will Mares Dominate Again?

There has been a lot of talk about the 7lb weight allowance that mares receive when running in a graded race against males, and whether that should still be in place. However, the fact is that both Honeysuckle and Epatante would have won their races without the allowance favouring them, that is how easy they won.

Epatante cruised to victory in 2020 after being heavily backed to win the race, eventually going off as the 2/1 favourite, and she was cheered home by thousands of fans who had backed her at the track. Honeysuckle dug a little deeper, but that is her style, when asked by jockey Rachel Blackmore, she pulled clear of the field and impressed us all in the manner of her victory.

If both horses turn up and repeat those runs, we are in for a tremendous showdown, and with or without the allowance, it would take something very special from one of the boys to beat them.

Can the Boys Get Involved?

The Champion Hurdle doesn’t have the same kind of depth we have seen in the past, and there are only two other horses of note that are worth mentioning at this stage. The main danger could be Appreciate It, who was excellent when winning the Supreme at the festival last year, and steps up from novice company this time around.

He has to prove that the step up is within his reach but is certainly the unknown quantity in the race that could come up to be something special.

Elsewhere, it is worth mentioning Sharjah, especially for those looking at horses who may fill the placings behind the two mares. He’s chased them both home over the past two seasons, finishing second in the Champion Hurdle in both 2020 and 2021. The form book says he has it all to do to turn that around, but he has to be respected.

Main image credit: "Champion Hurdle" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Carine06