Champion Bumper – Cheltenham Festival Day 2 13/03/2024
Venue: Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham UK | Dates: 12-15 March 2024 | Official Site: Cheltenham Festival 2024
5:30 – The Champion Bumper is unique as it’s the only race where no obstacles are jumped.
It’s for horses yet to start their jumping careers and has launched the careers of many top-class hurdlers and chasers, such as King George winners Florida Pearl and Cue Card.
10 Year Official Rating Trends
- Highest Winning Official Rating: 138
- Lowest Winning Official Rating: 119
- Average Winning Official Rating: 129
Jasmin De Vaux
Given the recent defection of Maughreen, another member of the Closutton bumper team Jasmin De Vaux, a point and bumper winner who trounced a field of 12 runners in his bumper at Naas at the end of January has moved to top of the market prominence. The form of the race is definitely open to question however a 15 length victory in any bumper is worth noting and he was pleasing on the eye. The race was run over a journey of 2m2½f and he does seem to have quite a bit of stamina stamped in his pedigree and so that may leave a question about his ability to handle a quicker test on potentially better ground. However he comes from the right stable with the right connections and he will command plenty of respect on the day.
Jalon D’oudairies
Aside from the fact that he cost £420,000 at last year’s Cheltenham Festival sale, Jalon D’oudairies is of obvious interest given that he is trained by Gordon Elliott and he represents the owners that are Gigginstown. He is also unbeaten in three starts (a point and two bumpers) and his latest success came at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting where he beat a very decent rival in Redemption Day who himself ran in last season’s Champion Bumper for Willie Mullins. All of that said, when drilling down further into the form of this horse it can be seen that there are very few horses of substance or calibre in there. Also his pedigree doesn’t jump off the page and so he will head to Cheltenham mainly armed with the confidence of connections who have a proven track record at the Festival and who know a good horse when they have one. Whether he is good enough for this particular test really is the question.
Teeshan
Paul Nicholls has a potentially exciting Cheltenham Bumper hand this season and the Westerner gelding Teeshan sprung to prominence when winning a heavy ground Exeter bumper by 7 lengths in early February. This followed on from a 41 length point success at Loughanmore in October of last year and the horse clearly possesses a very decent engine. He beat a newcomer and two point-to-point winners when winning at Exeter and his connections seem to be excited about him which is understandable given his achievements to this point. His trainer could be doubly represented or even trebly represented in this particular race and so it will be interesting to see which Ditcheat horse Harry Cobden chooses to ride should the stable indeed have more than one runner. Either way, Teeshan would go there with plenty to recommend him.
You Oughta Know
A third inmate of Willie Mullins’ to feature prominently here is You Oughta Know, a progressive son of Beat Hollow. An impressive 11 lengths winner of a Kilbeggan bumper in May of last year where he beat into second place a future Grade 3 winning hurdler was followed by a two length victory at Galway in August where he gave weight all round and a beating to four previous winners in the field. He didn’t reappear until the DRF in early February where he ran a huge race in a Grade 2 bumper finishing runner-up to a potential top class prospect in Jeroboam Machin who is sadly out for the season following this race. You Oughta Know comes into the Cheltenham race with form as good as any horse in there and he looks to be a major player for his all-conquering stable.
As is always the case with the bumper, there is likely to be a big field going to post and there could be some each-way value to be had with some bigger price options lurking amongst the entries. One such horse could be the Nicky Henderson trained Kingston Pride who was well backed to win a valuable bumper on the All Weather at the recent Lingfield Millions Meeting. Although beaten a length and a half by Tripoli Flyer, Kingston Pride came well clear of the third horse (Castle Ivers, a point and bumper winner himself) and it is common knowledge that this horse is well thought of at Seven Barrows. The Yellow Clay from the Gordon Elliott yard is another to take note of. He looked a little unlucky when stopped in his run in the Grade 2 bumper at the DRF and he could well be in the shake-up here.
Champion Bumper Summary
The most obvious thing to state here is that it may be prudent to wait until Willie Mullins has sorted out his riding plans before committing fully to the race. All of the afore-mentioned horses will have their chance however You Oughta Know definitely brings some of the strongest form lines into the race and he would be a sporting suggestion at this stage. In addition, the case made to consider Kingston Pride takes its main steer from the fact that his master trainer clearly holds the son of Kingston Hill in some regard and the fact that he is considering the race speaks volumes. He would only be an each-way suggestion alongside The Yellow Clay who could go well for Gordon Elliott.
