Cheltenham Betting Offers

Music Drive and Barton Snow Impress At Cheltenham Race Night Meeting

The Cheltenham Hunter Chase meeting may not be the biggest meeting of the season at the home of jump racing, but it’s the traditional closer that brings the season to an end.

This season, the meeting took place on Friday, May 2nd, with a total of seven races on the card. There were some surprise winners, some strong fancies going into the winner’s enclosure, and in the middle of the card, a double for jockey Gina Andrews, to grab the headlines.

Music Drive Wins Well in Feature Race

The open hunters chase at 6:20 pm, named in honour of Jonathan Neesom, was won in really good style by Music Drive.

Sent off as the even money favourite, he was strongly fancied to come out on top in this one, and didn’t let anyone down.

He was a strong fourth in the Hunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, when running great over the same course and distance, and he backed that up here. His success came from trainer Kelly Morgan and was the first win in a double on the card for Gina Andrews.

Just 35 minutes later, Andrews would bag her second winner of the night in the Mares Hunter Chase as Latenightfumble won by a short head.

She was also sent off as favourite, and Andrews was definitely a hit with favourite backers on the night.

The biggest-priced winner of the night came in the 7:30 pm race, the long-distance chase on the card. Ran over four miles and half a furlong, stamina came to the fore in this contest, even on decent ground, this was still a tough slog to get for the runners.

Martin Keighley sent Hung Jury to the race, unfancied really and going off at 20/1, but he was able to win the race by three-quarters of a length.

Barton Snow Maintains Perfect Rules Record Winning Opener

The first race on the card would go the way of Barton Snow, and in winning it, he moved to a perfect two wins from two starts under rules.

Both have come in the care of John O’Shea, winning in March at Stratford and following that up with a win here by just over a length.

Well fancied at 11/10, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next year. He may not stay the trip at Cheltenham, but the shorter distance of the Aintree Hunter Chase could be on the cards if he keeps performing well under rules.

Finally, a word for Rebel Dawn Rising, who won the final race on the card at 8:05 pm. He would take the open hunter chase by just under two lengths, at a price of 9/2.

After winning the race last year, this was back-to-back wins in this race for the David Kemp-trained runner, despite now being an 11-year-old.

The curtain has now come down on a thrilling jumps season at Cheltenham. We’ll be back for 2025/26 with the October Showcase Meeting to kick us off.