Cheltenham: Punters hold their own on day one battle with bookmakers

Bookmakers endured mixed fortunes on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, as Britain posted a 4-3 lead over runners from Ireland.

Ladbrokes and William Hill were particularly hard hit after Honeysuckle, Constitution Hill and Edwardstone gave punters a head start.

Wins by Constitution Hill (9-4 joint-favourite) in the opening Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and for Edwardstone (5-2 favourite) in the following Sporting Life Arkle Trophy gave backers a spring in their step.

And when Honeysuckle (8-11 favourite) recorded back-to-back wins in the Unibet Champion Hurdle, it was the punters who were celebrating.

Ladbrokes saw a lot of multiplies with those three horses, describing it as a terrible result.

Ladbrokes’s Nicola McGeady said: “We have started the week on the back foot as punters took us to the cleaners on day one of the Festival. Constitution Hill was the worst result in the book, followed by Edwardstone, and Honeysuckle. To make matters worse we saw a lot of multiples on those three horses. Gaelic Warrior’s defeat in the Boodles Juvenile Hurdle was a real saving grace.”

Results did improve for the bookies with 18-1 shot Marie’s Rock giving Constitution Hill’s trainer Nicky Henderson a double in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle and Brazil (10-1) foiling a gamble on 13-8 favourite Gaelic Warrior to win the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

The latter’s trainer Willie Mullins did get on the scoreboard when the Ukraine Appeal National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Novices’ Chase went the way Stattler (2-1) as Ireland reduced the deficit on their British counterparts in the race for the Prestbury Cup.

Tony Kenny of William Hill said: “There’s no getting away from it, we’re firmly behind after the opening