The Adonis Hurdle is one of the best trials for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Last Saturday's renewal at Kempton has thrown up the new favourite for the championship race for juveniles. Solo is now a best-priced +333.33 with Bovada to win the Grade 1 hurdle for horses aged four. However, there are currently two other contenders for the nap of the meeting: Envoi Allen in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle and Paisley Park in the Stayers' Hurdle.
Bettors and pundits had to be impressed with Solo. The horse beat a decent field with something in hand and a similar level of form at Cheltenham makes him the one to beat in the Triumph. Aspire Tower should not be dismissed because the horse showed ability in two starts over hurdles before falling at the last when contending for a Grade 1 hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival. However, Solo's time at Kempton compared favourably with two other hurdle races on the same card.
Solo's form is now better than that of his main rivals for the first race on the Friday of the Cheltenham Festival, Gold Cup day. There are question marks about the form of the other horses that are prominent in the betting. Goshen has made a visually appealing impression, but the horse has not beaten a great deal in running to a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 143. Allmankind has got the job done with style in three starts over hurdles and has also produced a career-high RPR of 143. Solo ran to 145 at Kempton.
The RPR variances suggest Solo has two pounds in hand over the second and third favourite for the Triumph Hurdle. That is a small margin of error for a race that often has a field of 20 runners or more. The pace is relenting and horses can be unlucky in running. One blocked run or jumping error can negate the difference in the ratings. At the current prices, Sir Psycho makes some appeal as an each-way bet at +1600 no run/no bet odds with online bookmakers.
Form students and ratings followers will still want to back Solo. The horse jumped well and was very professional on a first start in the UK after two wins at Auteuil. Young horses are more precocious in France and trainer Paul Nicholls has won the Triumph with similar horses in the past. Nicholls compared Solo to Master Minded, which won two Champion Chases, and chasing could see an even better horse. In the meantime, Solo is a worthy favourite for the Triumph Hurdle and can prevail.
You would never have your nap in the Triumph because of its nature and how it is run. Well-backed horses do have a good recent record, as eight winners since 2008 have been in the top three in the betting. All but one of the 12 winners in that period had recorded at last one win over hurdles at a distance of 16 or 17 furlongs. Solo now has the best profile for the Triumph Hurdle, but Envoi Allen and Paisley Park are shorter prices for their Cheltenham targets. They deserve to be bankers.
Envoi Allen ticks all the right boxes for the Ballymore. The step up in trip should not be a problem and he won the bumper at the Festival last season. The horse has had a good preparation which did not include a run at the Dublin Racing Festival, so his freshness is a positive. Paisley Park won the Stayers' Hurdle in 2019 and is rated to win the race again. The horse does enough to win and back-to-back titles are on the cards.