Greatwood Hurdle Tips: Idaho Sun Out And Burdett Road Can Win It Again

Billy Grimshaw has updated his Greatwood Hurdle tips on Sunday morning after the favourite Idaho Sun was taken out and the ground at Cheltenham quickened to good, good to firm in places. Nineteen go to post for the 3.10pm, and his best bet is a former winner of the race who has drifted since Friday.

The race has changed shape overnight. Idaho Sun, the 7/2 favourite when I first looked at this on Friday, is a non-runner, and despite the course putting more water on, the going this morning is good, good to firm in places with a GoingStick reading of 6.6. That leaves 19 runners, with Harry Lowes now heading a market that is 3/1 the field and Pioneer Pete, Let It Rain and Helnwein next in. Idaho Sun was the one I was against anyway, so his absence does not change the bet, and the Greatwood Hurdle trends still point the same way: fresh horses have done well, the winner usually comes from near the top of the market, and hold-up horses have not won it on good ground since at least 2017.

Harry Lowes takes over at the head of the betting, and on profile he is the obvious one. He is a lightly raced five-year-old for Dan Skelton, Harry Cobden is booked, he comes here fresh, and his form figures over two miles read 112. My doubt is how he is ridden. He is usually held up, only two of 43 hold-up horses have won this race since 2017, and a big field on quick ground is no place to be giving the leaders a start. At 3/1 he is priced as though the improvement has already arrived, and I am prepared to let him beat me from off the pace.

Let It Rain is the Skelton runner Harry Skelton has chosen, and she is the one the trends like most, coming here fresh and likely to sit in midfield. She only won a Class 3 at Stratford last time, though, and 11/2 does not leave much room for error. Pioneer Pete is the one I fear most. He has won his last three, including the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Chepstow last month by four lengths, all of his wins have come on good or good to soft, and he will race prominently. Against him, he has already had a run this season and won last time, two boxes the recent winners have not ticked, and at 4/1 the market is no longer overlooking him.

The one I want is BURDETT ROAD, who won this race two years ago when he made all on good ground. He went on from that to finish third in the Christmas Hurdle, second in the Kingwell and second in the 2025 Champion Hurdle at 66/1, and he was beaten only a length in a Listed hurdle at Kempton on good ground in October 2025. That is better form than anything else in this field has shown over hurdles, and he runs off 141 here, which looks a fair mark for a horse who has finished second in a Champion Hurdle.

His recent form needs some explaining, and I think it can be. He went chasing last season and was third in the Arkle Trial here on heavy ground, then spent the summer running in big handicaps on the Flat, which was never going to be his game. His return over hurdles at Carlisle on 22 October was more encouraging than fifth suggests. He was held up in rear, made a mistake three out and was beaten under six lengths in a Listed race, so that run should have put him right. Sam Twiston-Davies, who rode him in the Champion Hurdle, is back on board, and I would expect him to be ridden much more positively, as he was in this race two years ago. The ground is a shade quicker today than it was then, which I do not mind at all for a horse who wants to be in front.

Having already had a run this season has not been a help in this race, and his jumping can get sloppy, so a lot rests on Twiston-Davies finding a rhythm in front. That will not be straightforward with The Kemble Brewery and Pioneer Pete also keen to go forward, and he sits outside the first six in the betting, where most recent winners have come from. The market has eased him since Friday, though, and 14/1 with William Hill is a big price about a course winner with Grade 1 form who is back in his best conditions. With five places on offer, BURDETT ROAD remains my each-way bet, and Pioneer Pete is the chief danger.