2022 Stayers’ Hurdle Ante-Post Preview – 33/1 Duffle Can Ruffle Feathers in the Stayers’
Cheltenham winner Duffle Coat looks the unexposed lurker in this year’s Stayers’ market.
2022 Stayers’ Hurdle Ante-Post Preview
Our expert has delved through the current state of play in the Stayers’ Hurdle betting market, identifying a selection available at odds of 40/1! Check out their thoughts below, and why not also check out our Ryanair Chase ante-post article.
Stayers’ Hurdle (Thursday 17th March 2022)
Klassical Dream, the 2019 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner, looked a stayer to follow when bolting up in the Champion Stayers Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival back in April.
That was his first start in 487 days and he remains completely unexposed over staying distances, so it is not difficult to see why he tops the betting for the 2022 Stayers’ Hurdle.
Given his previous problems, however, he doesn’t look the strongest ante-post proposition and therefore can be passed over.
Thyme Hill follows him in most ante-post markets, yet Philip Hobbs’ charge did struggle at Auteuil on seasonal reappearance and looks a horse that needs decent ground to be seen at his best.
Whilst that certainly isn’t inconceivable in the spring, should the heavens open connections could be tempted to instead send the 8yo straight to Aintree for their Liverpool Hurdle – a race that he took last season.
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Last year’s Stayers’ winner, Flooring Porter, clearly has his quirks but when putting it all in he has plenty of talent.
He has failed to complete in both starts since that Stayers’ Hurdle win, however, taking a heavy fall when still in contention at Navan last time out.
Winning at an empty Cheltenham last year, whilst still impressive, is completely different to winning with a full crowd in attendance. Flooring Porter could quite easily lose his race in the preliminaries and as a result, can be passed over.
Sire De Berlais brought his Cheltenham Festival form figures to an impressive 4-1-1-2 when runner-up to Flooring Porter in the Stayers’.
He made a respectable reappearance at Navan earlier this month and being a horse who peaks in the spring, looks a live contender from an ante-post perspective.
He’ll be 10 by the time the tapes go off in March, however, and with that in mind, it is his stablemate DUFFLE COAT who is preferred.
This gelding was a smart juvenile hurdler last season, winning all four of his starts in that sphere. He scored in Grade 2 company at Cheltenham last November, where he showed plenty of stamina reserves to see off David Pipe’s Adagio – who went on to finish second in the Triumph Hurdle.
Duffle Coat hasn’t been seen over hurdles since that Cheltenham success, but he has raced four times on the level, finishing in the money in staying maidens at Roscommon and Thurles.
Those efforts were worth upgrading considering that staying distances are where his future lies, with connections confirming as much in a recent stable tour when claiming that he was being aimed at the same 3m handicap hurdle at Navan that Flooring Porter took last year before going on to Stayers’ Hurdle glory.
With the market for this season’s Stayers’ Hurdle currently looking completely wide-open, it looks worth taking a stab at the course winner Duffle Coat – who is simply overpriced at the 33/1 mark.