Shishkin heads Supreme market as William Hill once again offer seven places

Punters with William Hill will have a sense of deja vu going into the Cheltenham Festival with the firm for a second consecutive year offering a standout seven places for the festival opener after 16 runners were declared for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Sunday.

The Nicky Henderson-trained Shishkin, who is two from three over hurdles and most recently successful in a Listed event at Huntingdon last month, heads the betting at a general 11-4 with the similarly Joe Donnelly-owned Asterion Forlonge vying for favouritism at 3-1.

Abacadabras, the sole Supreme runner for Gordon Elliott, is next in the betting at 6-1 with 13-2 shot Fiddlerontheroof and Shishkin’s stablemate Chantry House – a best-price 7-1 with bet365 and Ladbrokes – completing the quintet of single-figure priced runners.

Cheltenham day one card

Seven places for each-way bettors with William Hill will be paid if 14 or more of the 16 declared runners line up on Tuesday, with six places set to be paid if 12 or more runners take their chance. The offer is available in shops and online.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "There are going to be some cracking offers on day one of the festival but I cannot imagine many better than this."

Supreme sponsors Sky Bet will refund a win single or the win part of an each-way single up to £/€10 on the Supreme and are among the majority of firms offering four places on the 17-runner Unibet Champion Hurdle on day one.

Sky Bet are also paying six places in the Ultima and Northern Trust Company Novices' Handicap Chase on day one. Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook and Betway are also paying six places on the Ultima.

Champion Hurdle market leader Epatante is a best-price 7-2 with Betfair Sportsbook, Paddy Power and BoyleSports with 5-1 second favourite and stablemate Pentland Hills and the Willie Mullins-trained Cilaos Emery – a 7-1 shot with William Hill and Unibet – the only single-figure priced runners in a notably open race.

Coral are among the firms offering four places in the Champion Hurdle and five places in the Ultima and Northern Trust Company Novices' Handicap Chase, available currently online and from 6pm on Monday evening in shops.

Spokesman David Stevens said: “With all Cheltenham Festival races now subject to 48-hour declarations, punters have an extra day to get stuck into the final fields.

"While this may not have a huge impact on boosting turnover, with the majority of bets still placed each day, it can only be a positive for the biggest betting week of the racing year.

"Although Friday is by far the biggest day, this year's festival kicks off with seven high-class and highly competitive races, when even the day's one odds-on favourite, Benie Des Dieux, faces a serious rival in Honeysuckle."

Benie Des Dieux is a best-price 8-11 favourite with bet365 and BoyleSports in her bid to win a second Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle with the first-named bookmaker, William Hill and Betfred offering 5-2 about second favourite Honeysuckle.

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Sky Bet have a money-back as cash offer available on the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, for full details click here. You still get this offer when betting through the Racing Post app so there's no need to switch apps.