Way-Too-Early Betting Favorites For Each of Cheltenham 2027’s Championship Races
Outsiders ran riot at the Cheltenham Festival back in March, and nobody left unscathed.
Home By The Lee finally cashed in at 33/1, fifth time lucky in the Stayers’ Hurdle for Joseph O’Brien and JJ Slevin, rallying to deny Ballyburn by a length and a quarter with Bob Olinger back in third.
Throw in the notable absentees — Constitution Hill, Marine Nationale, and Galopin des Champs all missing the entire week — and you had a Festival that felt genuinely up for grabs from the first flag.
White Noise backed up the theme at 40/1 in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, and Apolon De Charnie somehow went one bigger, landing the Triumph Hurdle at 50/1 for Willie Mullins and his son Patrick.
Then came Martator. Venetia Williams’s stable had endured one of the toughest seasons of her career, yet her 66/1 shot got up by a nose in the Grand Annual under first-time blinkers, denying reigning hero Jazzy Matty in a photo that punters are still arguing about.
So, what does 2027 look like from here, six months out and with the dust barely settled? Four championship races, four early favorites, and a Festival that just proved nothing at Cheltenham should ever be taken for granted.
Champion Hurdle: Lossiemouth (5/2)
Lossiemouth’s Cheltenham résumé barely needs an introduction anymore. The Willie Mullins-trained gray arrived at 2026’s Festival having already banked the 2023 Triumph Hurdle and back-to-back Mares’ Hurdles in 2024 and 2025, and she duly added a fourth win to the collection.
Sent off as the 7/5 betting favorite in first-time cheekpieces after connections gambled on bypassing the Mares’ Hurdle for open company, she tracked Brighterdaysahead patiently before powering six and a half lengths clear up the hill to become just the eighth mare in history to land the Champion Hurdle outright.
With 2027’s Cheltenham Festival still very much a million miles away, online betting sites still make the superstar mare the one to beat in next March’s Champion Hurdle.
The early online sports betting at Bovada odds currently make Lossiemouth a 5/2 favorite to repeat in 2027. After backing up yet another Cheltenham win up in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle to close out a near-flawless campaign, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Champion Chase: Il Etait Temps (3/1)
Il Etait Temps knocked on the Champion Chase door three times before finally getting the job done.
A faller at Ascot in the Clarence House Chase on his previous start — brought down two out while chasing Jonbon home — the diminutive gray needed 24 hours just to recover, Mullins later admitted, before the yard reworked his homework and took the hood off him for the first time in his life.
That decision paid off spectacularly. Stablemate and 5/6 favorite Majborough parted the birch and faded out of contention, opening the door for Il Etait Temps to survive a stumble on landing at the final fence and gallop ten lengths clear of Libberty Hunter.
Is there a more emphatic underline of his credentials than what followed at Punchestown — a five-length demolition of returning hero Marine Nationale, rated as high as 161½ with the Racing Post?
He’d already won the Tingle Creek in December, and Marine Nationale, who missed Cheltenham through a setback, looms as his biggest danger for 2027 alongside a hopefully fixed Majborough, with L’Eau Du Sud and Quilixios each-way threats.
At 3/1, he’s a deserved favorite for back-to-back Champion Chases, and given the rising ratings, he looks a very solid book-in for anyone keen to get ahead of the market.
Stayers’ Hurdle: The New Lion (8/1)
The New Lion’s Cheltenham story so far has been written over the minimum trip, rather than the marathon one he’s now being pointed towards.
He won the 2025 Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle for Dan Skelton and JP McManus, then spent 2026 as a genuine Champion Hurdle player, finishing third behind Lossiemouth.
He backed that up with a game second to Brighterdaysahead in the Aintree Hurdle three weeks later, undone only by a costly error at the final flight when he’d looked the likely winner.
That defeat, over a trip many felt suited him better than two miles, is exactly why connections are eyeing a step up to three miles.
Skelton has been open about it, telling Racing Post before Cheltenham that the Champion Hurdle “should surely turn into a staying race” for a horse of his profile.
Can he really be favorite for a race he’s never attempted at the full trip?
His main dangers, assuming the switch goes ahead, are Home By The Lee, along with Kabral Du Mathan, Ballyburn, and Teahupoo. At 8/1, this is the most speculative of the four prices — a plausible route to glory, but a projection rather than a formality.
Cheltenham Gold Cup: Gaelic Warrior (9/4)
Gaelic Warrior’s route to Gold Cup glory was every bit as dramatic as his pedigree suggested.
Having already won the Arkle over fences and struck at Aintree Bowl level, the eight-year-old arrived at 11/4 joint-favorite and delivered emphatically, powering eight lengths clear of Jango Baie with defending champion Inothewayurthinkin closing for third.
It handed Mullins a record-equalling fifth Gold Cup and completed the first Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup owner double since Dorothy Paget managed it in 1940, courtesy of Rich and Susannah Ricci.
His broader season was a rollercoaster, confirming his status as the year’s premier staying chaser — third in the King George, beaten by stablemate Fact To File in the Irish Gold Cup, before answering emphatically at Cheltenham and then thrashing Fact To File by 26 lengths in the Punchestown Gold Cup. At 9/4, he already heads the market and sits as the clear favorite for 2027.
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