Events / Editor / 20 October 2007 /

The feature event of Fontwell's National Hunt racing season, the Grade 2 National Spirit Hurdle, run over two-and-a-half miles, is a race that can have an impact on the ante-post betting markets for both the Champion Hurdle, but more especially the World Hurdle at the following month's Cheltenham Festival.

The 2006 winner My Way De Solzen subsequently went on to a famous success in the World Hurdle, whilst the 2007 heroine United ran a cracker to finish fourth. Other fine stayers such as Baracouda and Classified have won this race, an event that tends to centre very much around the first two in the betting.

Star French trainer Francois Doumen has won the race twice in recent years, so his representatives must always be seriously considered for betting purposes. Meanwhile, champion jockey Tony McCoy, darling of the betting public, has also been on the mark twice in the last five years.

Although run over a distance short of the World Hurdle trip, the very stiff uphill finish at Fontwell places stamina at a premium, especially if the ground rides soft or heavy, so only proven stayers should be considered when scanning the odds ahead of a bet on the race.

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