Champion Bumper Betting Tips

  • 15/03/2023
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Our Champion Bumper betting guide has all the top-class research and form analysis you need to find the best bets and tips for the closing Grade 1 on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival.

Final declarations have not yet been made for the Champion Bumper, but our experts have analysed all the key trends and cast eyes over the ante-post contenders.

The Champion Bumper has produced some of Cheltenham’s most iconic names throughout the years, and several potential superstars look likely to line up in another competitive renewal this year. We’ve done all the hard work, so you know who to follow at the Cheltenham Festival 2023.

Champion Bumper – Overlooked Outsiders

Last year’s Champion Bumper was won by 15/8 shot Facile Vega, who made it three bumper wins from three in an impressive performance and he remains unbeaten at the time of writing! 

Last year, the Hammer & Trowel Syndicate-owned five-year-old was one of an incredible TEN Cheltenham Festival winners for leading trainer Willie Mullins, as he finished over three lengths clear of runner-up American Mike. 

Once the declared runners are announced, we will be going into depth with our Cheltenham tips for the key contenders in the Champion Bumper betting and the outsiders in the field.

The Champion Bumper is a race that can boast several outsiders on its recent roll of honour, including Relegate (25-1), Briar Hill (25-1) and the mighty Cue Card, who belied an SP of 40-1 to win this race in 2010.

Once the final field has taken shape and all up to date form has been analysed, we will release our Champion Bumper top tips, so make sure to keep an eye out.

2023 Champion Bumper Runners + Odds – Wednesday, 15th March 5.30

Horse/Form Silks Jockey/Trainer Odds
A Dream To Share

111

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: John E Kiely		 7/2
It’s For Me

1-1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 5/1
Fact To File

1-12

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 13/2
Fun Fun Fun

11

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 8/1
Chapeau De Soleil

12

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours

 

 J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 11/1
Western Diego

1-1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 12/1
Better Days Ahead

1-21

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Gordon Elliott		 12/1
Encanto Bruno

1-11

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: John C McConnell		 14/1
Queens Gamble

1-12

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Oliver Sherwood		 16/1
Westport Cove

1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Willie Mullins		 20/1
No Time To Wait

FF-31

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Gordon Elliott		 25/1
Fascile Mode

14

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: TBC
T: Thomas Mullins		 33/1
Captain Teague

1-1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Harry Cobden
T: Paul Nicholls		 33/1
King Of Kingsfield

1-15

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Jordan Gainford
T: Gordon Elliott		 33/1
Favour And Fortune

11

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Tom Cannon
T: Alan King		 33/1
Loughglynn

6-1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Michael O’Sullivan
T: Willie Mullins		 33/1
Chosen Witness

1-15

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Sean O’Keeffe
T: Willie Mullins		 33/1
Lecky Watson

2-22

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Jack Foley
T: Willie Mullins		 33/1
Fiercely Proud

11

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Luca Morgan
T: Ben Pauling		 33/1
Samui

1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Sam Ewing
T: Gordon Elliott		 40/1
D Art D Art

1

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: B J Cooper
T: Thomas Cooper		 40/1
Captain Cody

F-421

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Josephine Townend
T: Willie Mullins		 66/1
Beachcomber

41

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Jonjo O’Neill Jr
T: Jonjo O’Neill		 66/1
Shinji

13

 Horse Profile - Jockey Colours J: Aidan Coleman
T: Martin Keighley		 100/1

Final declarations for the 2023 Champion Bumper will be announced 48 hours before the race, but we can look at the current ante-post betting market and identify some long-range fancies and betting tips for the big race at Cheltenham.

Representing the Gordon Elliott team, Better Days Ahead cost £350,000 after winning a point-to-point in February and was impressive when winning a NHF race at Fairyhouse in December.

Willie Mullins traditionally has a battalion of runners in this event, and 2023 looks likely to be no different, with the Closutton maestro responsible for several key contenders for this year’s renewal. One of them is It’s For Me, who eased to victory at Navan in January and looks to have a strong chance of continuing his trainers excellent record in the race.

The main hope for the Brits looks to be Oliver Sherwood’s Queens Gamble, who has already won two NHF races at Cheltenham, including an impressive Listed win in November.

How to pick a Champion Bumper Winner

A browse back through the trends that the Champion Bumper has produced in the last couple of decades can help punters with their predictions for this year’s renewal.

This top Grade 1 bumper, for example, has seen just three favourites deliver the odds in the last ten years, although that does include last year’s winner Facile Vega. 

For Champion Bumper betting odds, that could indicate it’s worth looking down the market.

Last 10 Champion Bumper Winners Odds

  • 2022 Facile Vega 15/8F
  • 2021 Sir Gerhard 85/40
  • 2020 Ferny Hollow 11/1
  • 2019 Envoi Allen 2/1F
  • 2018 Relegate 25/1
  • 2017 Fayonagh 7/1
  • 2016 Ballyandy 5/1
  • 2015 Moon Race 9/2F
  • 2014 Silver Concorde 16/1
  • 2013 Briar Hill 25/1

There has been a definite trend towards Irish winners in the Champion Bumper, with 15 of the last 20 winners coming from Irish yards, with the other five being home winners. 

Other key trends that the Champion Bumper has produced in the 20 editions include no winner having come home at anything larger than 50/1 odds, and all winners in that span had banked 1-3 wins for that current season.

All but one had gone into the Champion Bumper on the back of a victory in their last race, and five of those had their final run at Leopardstown, with Cheltenham, Fairyhouse and Naas being the best of the other tracks for producing Champion Bumper winners next time out.

Our betting experts will be examining those trends and more for this year’s Champion Bumper betting tips.

All About The Champion Bumper: Past and Present

The Champion Bumper is a Grade 1 National Hunt Flat Race run on the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival on Cheltenham’s Old Course. Introduced in 1992, the race has regularly proved a breeding ground for top class young horses and continues to see horses of immense potential pass through on the way to bigger and better things. Bumpers are flat races in which young National Hunt horses can gain racecourse experience without facing their generally speedier flat-bred counterparts. It is the only Grade 1 race of its type in the UK.

The first renewal was won by Montelado, ridden by Richard Dunwoody and trained by Pat Flynn. Willie Mullins, the winning-most trainer in Cheltenham Festival history, also rode his sole Festival winner as a jockey in the Champion Bumper aboard his own Wither Or Which in 1996. Mullins has twelve Champion Bumper wins to his name, most notably the future RSA Chase and King George winner Florida Pearl and subsequent Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hero Champagne Fever, as well as last year’s winner Facile Vega.

The immensely talented Monsignor won this race in 1999 before going on to win all six starts over hurdles, before injuries and training problems meant he didn’t race past the age of 6, though probably the highest-profile Champion Bumper winner is the ever-popular Cue Card, who won the Champion Bumper on only his second career start in 2010 and went on to obtain an illustrious CV, including wins in the King George, the Ryanair and three editions of the Betfair Chase.

What is the Champion Bumper Prize Money in 2023?

The 2022 Champion Bumper had a total prize fund of £78,696, with £45,560 going to connections of the winner, Facile Vega. In addition, £17,096 and £8,560 went to the second and third, respectively, with prize money going all the way down to £1,072 for the sixth-placed horse.

Champion Bumper Past Winners

Year Horse Odds Jockey Trainer
2022 Facile Vega 15/8F P W Mullins Willie Mullins
2021 Sir Gerhard 85/40 Rachael Blackmore Willie Mullins
2020 Ferny Hollow 11/1 Paul Townend Willie Mullins
2019 Envoi Allen 2/1F Jamie Codd Gordon Elliott
2018 Relegate 25/1 Katie Walsh Willie Mullins
2017 Fayonagh 7/1 Jamie Codd Gordon Elliott
2016 Ballyandy 5/1 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies
2015 Moon Racer 9/2F Tom Scudamore David Pipe
2014 Silver Concorde 16/1 Robbie McNamara Dermot Weld
2013 Briar Hill 25/1 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2012 Champagne Fever 16/1 Patrick Mullins Willie Mullins
2011 Cheltenian 14/1 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs

Other races on Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival

The Champion Bumper is one of four Grade 1s on the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival, alongside the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, Festival Novices’ Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase. Wednesday also features the Coral Cup, the Grand Annual and the Cross Country.

13:30 The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race (Grade 1)

14:10 The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase (Grade 1)

14:50 The Coral Cup Hurdle (A Handicap Hurdle Race) (Grade 3)

15:30 The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeplechase (Grade 1)

16:10 The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase

16:50 The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup (Grade 3)

17:30 The Weatherbys Champion Bumper (A Standard Open NH Flat Race) (Grade 1)