Kopek Des Bordes, Majborough, Lossiemouth and Constitution Hill are not well-known racehorses in the United States, even though they have combined to win 26 of 30 starts.
By nightfall on Tuesday, they could be four of the most lauded racehorses in Great Britain and Ireland should they succeed as heavy favorites in Grade 1 races on opening day of the Cheltenham festival for hurdlers and chasers at Cheltenham Racecourse 100 miles west of London.
As of Sunday, when final entries were taken, the quartet were all even-money or shorter.
They have been the subject of millions of future-book bets in euros and pounds, and are part of multi-race parlays involving races only on Tuesday, or all the way through to Friday’s final day of the four-day meeting.
Should all four win, it will be a brutal day for bookmakers. Wins by two or three would be highly lucrative for bettors.
Kopek Des Bordes, a 5-year-old French-bred gelding, was even-money in advance betting on Sunday to win Tuesday’s first race, the $193,700 Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at about 2 1/16 miles.
The race is named in memory of the jockey who died of injuries sustained in a fall in Ireland last month. He was 24. O’Sullivan rode the winner of the 2023 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
Kopes Des Bordes is unbeaten in three starts, including two races over hurdles, for Irish trainer Willie Mullins, who has won a record 103 races at the Cheltenham festival. Mullins has been leading trainer annually since 2019, and is expected to lead the standings this week.
Mullins won a record 10 of the 28 races over four days in 2022. He has 16 horses entered on Tuesday’s seven-race program, including six of 12 in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.
Mullins starts Majborough in the $258,300 Arkle Novices’ Chase at two miles, and Lossiemouth in the $160,400 Mares’ Hurdle at 2 1/2 miles.
Majborough was 4-7 on Sunday to beat four rivals, including the well-regarded L’Eau du Sud, who is trained in Britain by Dan Skelton. Majborough has won his last three starts, and 4 of 5 races in his career. L’eau du Sud (5-1) is unbeaten in four races since the jump racing season began last summer.
The presence of Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle was a source of controversy on Sunday, since the 6-year-old mare was expected to start in Tuesday’s $581,300 Champion Hurdle at two miles. Many future-book bets on her in the Champion Hurdle are now worthless, though some were placed with the caveat that she start in the race.
Lossiemouth is 4-6 to beat 10 rivals in the Mares’ Hurdle, a race she won in 2023. Lossiemouth has won 9 of 12 starts.
Constitution Hill, undefeated in 10 starts, was 4-7 in early betting for the Champion Hurdle. An 8-year-old gelding trained in Britain by Nicky Henderson, Constitution Hill won the 2023 Champion Hurdle, but missed the race last year because of bouts with a respiratory infection and colic.
Constitution Hill beat four rivals in the Grade 2 Unibet Hurdle at 2 1/8 miles at Cheltenham on Jan. 25 by three lengths despite making a mistake at the final hurdle. Constitution Hill has won three times at Cheltenham.
The Champion Hurdle drew a field of seven, including Brighterdaysahead (2-1) and State Man (8-1).
Brighterdaysahead, a 6-year-old mare trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott, has won 9 of 10 starts. Her only loss was a second in the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices Hurdle at the 2024 Cheltenham festival, her only previous start at the track.
State Man was second in the 2023 Champion Hurdle and won the race last year. Trained by Mullins, the 8-year-old State Man won the Grade 1 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Feb. 2 in his last start.
The seven-race program at Cheltenham begins at 9:20 a.m. Eastern or 6:20 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
This is not the first time that the four Grade 1 races on the first day of the Cheltenham festival have included heavy favorites. In 2015, Douvan at 2-1 in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Un de Sceaux at 4-6 in the Arkle Chase, and Faugheen at 4-5 in the Champion Hurdle all won, giving bettors a dream start to the major races on the opening day.
Only a fall by 1-2 favorite Annie Power at the final obstacle of the Mares’ Hurdle kept bookmakers from paying out approximately $75 million in single- and multi-race bets, according to estimates at the time.
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