A year ago, Wodhooh was a Martin Pipe handicap winner. Today, she lines up as favourite for a Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival with nine wins from ten hurdle starts, a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 already in the bag this season, and the most dangerous mare in the race — Lossiemouth, who has won the Mares' Hurdle in each of the last two years — absent after connections took the bigger dice of the Champion Hurdle instead. One analyst's summary of her position in this year's race is hard to argue with: "She sets a very clear form standard." This is our Festival NAP at 14:40.
The Selection
Wodhooh is a six-year-old mare trained by Gordon Elliott at Longwood, Co Meath, partnered by Jack Kennedy in the Grade 1 Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle over 2m4f56y on good to soft ground at Cheltenham. She arrives as odds-on market leader with an OR of 154, RPR of 160, and a career hurdles record of 9-1. Her only defeat over obstacles came at the hands of Lossiemouth in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle last spring — the horse rated clearly above her, who has now elected to run in Wednesday's Champion Hurdle rather than defend her Mares' Hurdle crown. The expert view's conclusion is direct: Wodhooh "will be hard to beat."
Form and Class
The journey from flat racing under Sir Michael Stoute to Festival-grade hurdler under Gordon Elliott is one of the season's most compelling trajectory stories. Since the switch to Elliott in the summer of 2023, Wodhooh has won nine of her ten races over obstacles. The single defeat — to Lossiemouth at Aintree — was against a mare who has since won the Champion Hurdle and is widely considered the best hurdler in training. Losing to that horse once, at Aintree on good to soft, is a form line that requires no apology.
This season's campaign confirms the upward arc. A Grade 2 win at Ascot over 2m3f on good to soft ground, then a Grade 3 at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting where she gave weight to and beat Feet Of A Dancer by just over two lengths on soft. That Leopardstown runner-up is notable — Feet Of A Dancer went on to win a Grade 2 at Doncaster in January, which means the form has been franked independently and the two-length margin is a more meaningful reference point than it appeared on the day. She "has looked every bit as good" this season as she was last year, per the expert view — and the expert view also notes she won last year's Martin Pipe at this course and distance. She is a confirmed Cheltenham Festival winner, on this track, over a trip near to today's.
Ground is important to Wodhooh, and the good to soft conditions today are within her optimal range. Both of her major wins this season have come on the soft side of good.
Why Today
The defining structural fact about this race is Lossiemouth's absence. Willie Mullins' two-time defending Mares' Hurdle champion took the Champion Hurdle option on Tuesday and won it — further validating her as the only horse who had a legitimate claim to be rated above Wodhooh in the mares' division. With her out of the picture and a field of just seven runners, there is no queue of claimants behind her. David Casey, assistant to Mullins, acknowledged as much when Lossiemouth's Champion Hurdle decision was confirmed: "Obviously I won't say the Mares' is a weaker race, there's some good horses in there and Wodhooh is a formidable opponent." That is Closutton conceding the form lead to an Elliott mare — a rare formulation.
The Opposition
Jade De Grugy is the market's second choice and the danger deserving most attention. The Willie Mullins-trained mare has shown genuine ability and if Wodhooh fails to run to her best, she is the most likely beneficiary — but she has been chasing this season and arrives in hurdle company as something of a question mark at this level. Feet Of A Dancer from Paul Nolan's yard is the each-way case with the clearest form line back to Wodhooh: beaten two lengths at Leopardstown in December, then winning a Grade 2 at Doncaster in January. She wants slightly softer ground ideally, and if she gets it today the forecast pairing market is the natural home for her at a bigger price. Take No Chances and Kingston Queen complete the main cast, both interesting profiles but both needing to find improvement at Grade 1 level to threaten the favourite. The Elliott yard is running at 8% from 64 runners over the past 14 days — a below-par strike rate that must be acknowledged — but this is the horse-specific case that matters: Wodhooh is the yard's Festival banker, the trainer's principal hope across the entire meeting, and not a number in a sequence of anonymous handicappers. The stat applies to the whole yard; the form applies to this mare individually.
The Bottom Line
Nine wins from ten over hurdles. Martin Pipe winner at this course and distance last year. Grade 2 Ascot Hurdle winner this season. Beat Feet Of A Dancer at Leopardstown, form since franked. Only defeat to Lossiemouth — who went to the Champion Hurdle and won it. Good to soft ground suits. Jack Kennedy, Grade 1-calibre big-race jockey, in the saddle. Seven-runner field. The expert view: "will be hard to beat." At 2.00, this is a Festival NAP — respect Jade De Grugy as the each-way alternative, and acknowledge the odds-on territory, but the form case for Wodhooh is the clearest of the week.
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