Supreme Novices' Hurdle: What does the current picture look like? There's always a buzz around the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, as the winners tend to go on to be Arkle or Champion Hurdle candidates the following season. It's also the very first race of the Cheltenham Festival, which is enough to get people excited on its own. It's always worth keeping an eye on the betting for this race and although it's still early days, there have already been some substantial changes to the market since the season got underway. Here we take a look at the current Supreme picture and how the market is shaping up. Surprisingly, the current favourite doesn't hail from the Willie Mullins yard, although that could be set to change very soon! The British challenge Britain's Supreme Novices' Hurdle challenge is looking good at this stage of the season, according to the bookies. The Dan Skelton-trained Mydaddypaddy currently heads the market and he was catapulted into favouritism after winning a Carlisle maiden last month. That victory was somewhat impressive but there was a bit of an overreaction from both punters and bookmakers. He then tightened again in the betting when following up at Haydock recently and will surely now face a step up in grade at some point. Mullins is likely to regain his dominance in the betting for this race at some point, as his best novices probably haven't been out yet. Leopardstown Christmas and Dublin Racing Festival meetings will tell us more and things will look very different in February. Old Park Star shortened into 16/1 after bolting up in a novice hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend. It was an excellent performance but it perhaps doesn't bode well that even his trainer was surprised. He's entitled to progress but will probably need to. Team Mullins Champion bumper winner Bambino Fever was the ante-post favourite for this race and she remains prominent in the betting. She makes her hurdling debut at Naas this week and we'll surely learn plenty about her chances. One thing to consider is that Champion Bumper winners tend to be stayers rather than two-milers but there are obvious exceptions to the rule. Last seen winning a Grade 1 at the Punchestown Festival, she has the world at her feet and we can't wait to see her return. Davy Crockett made a big impression with some impressive performances over the summer and he's currently on a mid-season break. Mullins is convinced that the son of Annie Power is a Grade 1 horse and the genius trainer is rarely wrong. Another one for the Mullins and JP McManus combination, Love Me Tender has a similar profile and he was an impressive winner of a Grade 3 when last seen. There should be loads more to come from him. French import Fou De Toi is also prominent in the betting and he finished third at Auteuil on debut in May. Mullins does very well with this type of horse and he's one to add to your trackers, as there will be plenty of interested parties when he makes his stable debut. Best of the rest Gordon Elliott has been flying in recent weeks and has maintained a very healthy strike-rate in the last month or so. Koktail Brut was a narrow winner of the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse and that makes him a natural candidate but he will probably need to improve. Act Of Innocence was a bumper winner for Paul Nicholls and has been switched to Nicky Henderson over the summer. He kept on nicely to win a maiden at Newbury last month and there should be plenty more to come from him.
