Throughout the Cheltenham Festival and the history of the event, there have been plenty of fantastic moments that have immortalised themselves in the history of the competition. Most of these moments come from underdogs who were written off yet beat all the odds to win a race and become a legend among horse racing fans! Whether you are a horse racing fan who enjoys making the most of betting opportunities such as Cheltenham free bets, or you simply love watching the horses race, these underdog stories are not only inspiring, but they are also some of the most legendary horse racing stories throughout the entire sport!
Carrickboy
Starting with a fairly recent underdog story, Carrickboy was a winner in a 22-runner handicap race after he was able to take the lead and stay clear in front two furlongs from home, delivering a win when he was placed at odds of 50/1! Jockey Liam Treadwell was mainly remembered for his performance in the Grand National in 2009 when he was able to drag a horse backed at 100/1 to win, yet this ride with Carrickboy in 2013 was perhaps even better due to the race taking place across the Cheltenham Festival.
This win for Carrickboy was accompanied by other impressive underdog winners across the festival, such as a 20/1, 25/1, 14/1 and 16/1, making the 2013 edition of the Cheltenham Festival a fairly interesting one!
Minella Indo
Another recent underdog winning was in 2019 when Minella Indo was able to win when he was set at odds 50/1 to win. Being one of the biggest upsets of the calendar year, Minella Indo was able to win the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle Race. As this was early on in Minella Indo’s career, the horse had been beaten on all three of his previous starts, yet he was able to win this race at Cheltenham Festival in command by two lengths.
After two years of development, Minella Indo was able to win the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is known to be one of the biggest trophies in the sport of horse racing! Ever since the first victory for Minella Indo, the horse has been able to kick on with a career of 8 wins throughout 26 races, which is an incredibly impressive record!
Cue Card
Cue Card was known to be one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, mainly due to the fact that the victory at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival was near the beginning of the horse’s career. Winning with odds of 40/1, the British-bred horse sprung to life and absolutely smashed his highly-regarded opponents by eight lengths! Described to have ‘romped home’ by the racecard, Cue Card was one of the most impressive and unlikely victories in the history of the Cheltenham Festival.
L’Escargot
With the name translating to ‘The Snail’, there were not many high hopes for L’Escargot in the 1970 Gold Cup when the horse competed, yet against the odds of 33/1, the horse was able to be victorious despite being completely unfancied! With trainer Dan Moore able to get the best out of the horse, L’Escargot was able to win the 1971 Gold Cup, making him a consecutive winner, with the horse winning at odds of 7/2. Clearly, the bookies learnt their lesson from the year before as L’Escargot became an incredible runner and was able to win the Grand National in 1975, 5 years after its Gold Cup victory in 1970.
Norton’s Coin
Trained by Sirrel Griffiths, who was a dairy farmer from West Wales, Norton’s Coin was one of the three horses that he trained as a hobby. However, in the 1990 Gold Cup, this horse was able to cause the biggest upset that the Cheltenham Festival had ever seen as the horse took home the Gold Cup after being placed at odds of 100/1!
What made this victory even more impressive was the fact that it was no fluke; none of the top runners were affected, and Norton’s Coin was able to win the race on pure merit. Norton’s Coin had only won once in his last 18 starts beforehand, meaning the form of the horse made him very unfavourable for the Gold Cup. Yet, against all odds, Norton’s Coin was able to win in one of the most prestigious races in all of horse racing.
All these fantastic underdog stories show how exciting the sport of horse racing really can be, as every horse has a chance of winning, no matter the odds placed on them! With the Cheltenham Festival around the corner, who knows if there will be a huge underdog victory to choke everybody at this edition of the festival!