Cheltenham Tips for Ballymore Hurdle : Hubrisko vs Hermes Allen

The Ballymore Novices Hurdle is here for another year as Cheltenham Racecourse looks to host its popular three-day November festival – as we preview the feature race of the day.

The Ballymore has produced some huge names from down the years who have all gone on to become a world-class chaser and has even made their name in Cheltenham history.

Come festival season, we could be seeing the winner of the race go in for one of the key fixtures of the March meeting.

The likes of Sir Gerhard, Bob Olinger, Envoi Allen and Samcro have all seen success in this race which enabled them to have the career and names everybody knows of today.

Paul Townend will be looking to retain his name as a Ballymore winner as he looks to ride Hubrisko in the 15:30 on Friday.

Odds for the five-year-old can be found at around 9/4 and 2/1 where Townend looks very favourable among the seven horses among the antepost.

Hubrisko has heavily impressed on Irish ground as he looks to make his UK debut under trainer Willie Mullins.

Hermes Allen will also run in the race of the day with Paul Nicholl’s new star signing looking to make a lasting impression following his big money sale from Tattersall Cheltenham sale in December.

Hermes Allen cost £210,000 as Nicholls believed the purchase was made for a potential Gold Cup runner.

He said: “We bought him as a Gold Cup horse and that’s what we’re going for. He’s very similar to Imperial Commander. That’s big talk, but that’s the idea we’ve got.”

You can currently back Hermes Allen at odds of 7/2 with money expected to continue on Harry Cobden’s ride on Friday.

Weveallbeencaught and Music Drive finish off the main contenders for the Ballymore with similar odds of 4/1 being found across the market.