TimeformBlog

The betting for the David Nicholson Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival is currently dominated by runners from across the Irish Sea, with Willie Mullins' Quevega predictably a short-priced favourite to land her third consecutive win in the 2½m contest, but Timeform's Stuart Jones has found another to back against the defending champion... It pretty much goes without saying that Quevega is the one they all have to beat. A standout in the mares division since joining Mullins, she stamped herself a very smart performer when winning this race in 2009 and then belied an absence of nearly ten months to see off Carole's Legacy by an easy 4½ lengths in last year's renewal. Quevega had little trouble making her mark in open company next time, either, taking the step up to 3m in her stride...