Ireland Set to Dominate Four Cheltenham Festival Feature Races

"The William Hill Trophy Handicap Chase" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Carine06

The Cheltenham Festival of 2022 is coming up in March and as the weeks count down towards the event, the chances of Ireland dominating again continue to look strong. The Irish blew UK runners away last season, with 23 wins from the 28 races, and this time around, if the big feature races are anything to go by, they look set to do something similar.

The first of those big races is the Champion Hurdle on the first day of the meeting, a race that Honeysuckle won last season, and she looks set to dominate again this season. The latest Cheltenham odds show that she is 4/6 to win the race for the second consecutive year.

Should she fail to fire on the day then her main danger could well be Appreciate It, another runner from Ireland, so they could still win the race, even without Honeysuckle. Seen by some as the banker of the meeting, Honeysuckle features heavily in Champion Hurdle tips as she looks to assert her dominance on the field once again.

Ireland Have Strong Grip on Fascinating Gold Cup

The upcoming 2022 Gold Cup looks set to be a thrilling race and there will be plenty of opinions out there about the winner. One thing that is for certain though, is that whatever horse everyone likes, it is likely to be a runner from Ireland.

Ireland holds the three main favourites in the contest, plus many others that are seen as lively outsiders. Minella Indo won the Gold Cup last season, with A Plus Tard in second place behind him. These two head the market, while another runner, Galvin, joins them at the top.

Minella Indo leads them home in the WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup!

@HenrydeBromhead has won the 'Holy Trinity' at the Cheltenham Festival with a one-two finish!#ITVRacing#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/ndc7njTGvO

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 19, 2021

One of the lively outsiders for Ireland is Al Boum Photo, a horse that won the Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020 and was a very respectable third last season. He’s coming towards the end of his career but could still get involved.

Flooring Porter Looking to Repeat Stayers Hurdle Success

The third runner Ireland has big hopes for in the championship races is Flooring Porter in the Stayers Hurdle. This horse took the race in great style last year when he was a big outsider to win the race. That won’t be the case this time around, he is likely to battle it out for favouritism with Champ, a UK trained runner.

Shishkin Looks Too Strong in Champion Chase

There is one race where the Irish may struggle to take home the prize, and that is the Champion Chase, the last of the four championship races. He was too strong for Energumene at Ascot last time out, showing just how much class he has.

From a UK point of view, Shishkin represents the best chance they have to win one of the four championship races and will be the big banker of the week for many. However, elsewhere, we look set to see more Irish dominance both in the championship races, and elsewhere.