William Hill Trophy

June 17, 2011
Online Betting King
Cheltenham Festival
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Cheltenham William Hill Trophy

Cheltenham Festival race guide – the William Hill Trophy

The first big handicap race of the festival quickly swings around, and this year’s renewal is predictably proving pretty hard to call. A sizeable field of runners is once again expected, but the market is finding it difficult to separate Hold On Julio and Quantitativeeaing at the head of affairs. The former has won all three of his chase starts to date, and the latter has finished first and second in his last two runs at Cheltenham respectively. This race has a habit of throwing up some healthy priced winners however, and it may pay to side with a particularly well treated rival.

William Hill Trophy odds

Three miles and ½ furlong is the trip for this race, where we can expect to see a large field of runners. Twenty four took to the fences twelve months ago yet seven of those were unable to complete their journey. So when analysing your selection for this race, a horse must have proven stamina because this is an unforgiving three miles regardless of ground conditions. The old course at Cheltenham demands a lot in any race, but the William Hill Trophy Handicap is not too dissimilar from the Grand National. In fact, several of those who competed in the corresponding race last year go on to make Grand National appearances. Take the David Pipe trained Comply or Die for example who won the 2008 running of the National but could only finish 13th in this race last year.

Previous Records of the William Hill Trophy

As far as records in this handicap go, Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton rode back-to-back winners in 2004 and 2005 aboard Fork Lightning and Kelami respectively. However, no stable has dominated this race in recent years which speaks volumes about the difficulty of preparing a horse for this race. But there are certain trends which can be identified in this race and the weight is vitally important. No horse since Unguided Missile in 1998 has been able to win this one carrying more than eleven stone to victory. Quite an interesting statistic to consider, so it may be best ebb on the side of caution before backing a top weight favourite in the William Hill Handicap Trophy.

British runners generally have an excellent record in this race and if you can chance on one with Cheltenham form already to its name, you will be giving yourself the best possible chance of beating the bookies. Previous results in this race suggests British course specialist have performed admirably so make a case for those runners who fit this winning criteria. It is a handicap after all, but there are those interesting contenders who may have got in lightly and/or are potentially ahead of the handicapper so be sure to thoroughly check this market in the run up to post time.