OLBG Mares’ Hurdle

The sixth race on day one at the Cheltenham Festival is the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle at 16:40, a contest introduced in 2008.

This race is for four-year-olds and older – with the first two winners being five – but it has been dominated in the last three four years by Quevega.

Willie Mullins’ horse has won the race in some style since 2009 and she is strongly fancied to make it five-in-a-row this year. 2013’s 4/7 favourite – once again – really looks to be a special mare that could be involved in the World Hurdle later in the week.

Not many are going to be looking past Quevega here as five-in-a-row would really be some achievement, so Mullins is sure to be desperate to make history at Cheltenham yet again.

Of course, it is not all about Quevega as there are a number of contenders and you can get odds of 11/2 on Une Artiste coming out on top. The mare is trained by Nicky Henderson, so there is no way you can look past her here, especially with the form that Henderson is in right now.

Another mare likely to be popular with the punters is Kentford Grey Lady, who is at 9/1. She was runner-up in this encounter last year and has improved a lot since then, so certainly represents good each-way value.

The fourth favourite is 12/1 Swing Bowler. The horse has impressed, notching up five wins from six races so far, but her unbeaten record was ended last time out, so confidence could have taken a bit of a knock. Once again though, an each-way bet has to be the recommendation here.

That’s because for us, there is only one winner here and that is Quevega. In truth, many would love to see her come out on top and what an achievement that would be.