Will Sir Gerhard go Supreme or Ballymore at the Cheltenham Festival?

After winning the Champion Bumper at last year's festival, Sir Gerhard has been one of the main protagonists in the 2022 Cheltenham Festival betting novice hurdle markets.

The tables were turned at the Punchestown Festival in April, when his stablemate Kilcruit, got the better of him in the season finale where he was sent of the 5/6 favourite.

Gerhard Electric on Hurdles Bow

He did not disappoint when making a belated novice hurdle debut over Christmas at Leopardstown, where he won by 8 lengths which left the best betting sites with no option but to cut his price drastically for Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old was as equally impressive at the same track when again scoring over the minimum trip of 2 miles at the Dublin Racing Festival in February and his trainer Willie Mullins was very much undecided what his Cheltenham Festival target would be.

He said "He was so efficient here at Christmas, he jumped like a handicapper so I was disappointed with his jumping. I'm not really worried about his jumping, I think he just had a blip there today."

"I think he could go either way, I'd have no trouble going to the Supreme Novices' with him or to the Ballymore. We'll see what is in either race and then make our minds up. He settles well enough in a two-mile race and he has the stamina for two-and-a-half."

"You could toss a coin for whichever race he goes in because that's the sort of ability I hope he has."

Closutton Stable Spoilt for Choice

Not only does Willie Mullins have the firepower of Sir Gerhard to count on, but he also has a plethora of talent in the novice hurdle divisions including the likes of Dysart Dynamo, Kilcruit, The Nice Guy, State Man, and many more.

History tells us that Willie is unlikely to run his best horses against each other. And he has in fact, kept his best novices' Sir Gerhard and Dysart Dynamo apart, with the latter now favourite for the curtain raiser at Cheltenham tomorrow.

UK bookmakers reported sustained support for Sir Gerhard in the Supreme Novices' hurdle market last week which ousted Constitution Hill as favourite.

That support dried up over the weekend based on the Betfair betting exchanges odds with the layers getting it spot on as the son of Jeremy was confimred for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle for which he is now an odds on shot to land.