After Binocular bounced back to form in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton exchange punters were quick to lump their money on Nicky Henderson’s superstar retaining his Champion Hurdle crown at the 2011 Cheltenham Festival.

With the meeting rapidly approaching Betfair players will be looking to secure decent positions on horses they fancy and will be looking to lay the runners that they believe are too short in the betting.  As ever when it comes to Cheltenham ante post betting the action is frenetic and the markets are volatile with so much money thrown in the direction of any one event.  A single rumour, a poor performance or a negative quote coming from a horse’s stable can result in an alarming drift in the betting and it is worth taking a close look at the markets.

We are still two months away from the Festival but the 2011 Champion Hurdle market bounced into life on Saturday as Binocular sounded a timely warning to his rivals with an explosive performance of accurate jumping around Kempton.  It was a far cry from the horse that could only finish third in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle on his seasonal reappearance and there will be some layers regretting the fact that they allowed the horse to drift to 6.60 (11/2).  Of the £616,444 that has swapped hands on the event, Binocular is responsible for more than £165,000 and he is strong in the market at 100/30 (4.3).  It is hard to envisage him getting much bigger than his current price but it will be interesting to see whether he runs before he returns to Cheltenham to defend his title.

Next in the betting is intriguing Willie Mullins raider Hurricane Fly who could finally make his debut at the Festival after two years on the sidelines.  Always held in the highest regard by his trainer, he missed the 2009 and 2010 Champion Hurdle through injury but he looks to be a fresh horse this season and the shrewd punters that gobbled up the 17.00 on him winning the Champion Hurdle could be sitting pretty in March.  He currently trades at 6.00 (5/1) and the layers have stood up to his price since Binocular’s return to form at the weekend.  Having been as low as 4.8 (3.8/1) his price looks like a fair reflection on his chances of making the Festival and then serving it up to the best hurdlers in the business.

Menorah (6.60) continues to attract the interest of exchange punters and has been responsible for more than £80,000 of the money traded on the event, while the unbeaten Peddlers Cross is down to 7.00 having been readily available at over 30/1 last year.

Punters that were impressed with the performances of Silviniaco Conti earlier in the season will be surprised to see the horse trading at 38.00 having been as short as 9.80, while Zaynar has been backed at a whopping 760.00 after trading as low as 13.00 at the start of the season.