What has Buveur d'Aire done to justify his price in the Champion market.
I thought he looked electric on his debut but his Warwick effort was poor. Cloudy Dream who went step for step with him in Haydock for most of the race was beaten at the weekend.
You can get 5/2 about whether you trust Willie Mullins at the moment in the CH market.
I think a few things contribute to Buveur D'air's current price in the market. Firstly connections. Nicky Henderson along with Peter Easterby has trained more champion hurdle winners than anyone else in the game. He knows if a horse is up to the demands of the race. MTOY last year to run the race he did without a prep run proves what Henderson can do so he obviously sees something he likes in BD. He was always a very slick hurdler and to quote the trainer himself BD was "electric yesterday schooling hurdles, like an arrow". Add in the green & gold hoops and JP as the races most successful owner and you obviously now have very cautious bookmakers.
Secondly, lets look at Buveur D'airs hurdle form. He is 3 from 4 over hurdles, his only taste of defeat at the hands of his stable mate who looks extraordinary and destined for greatness. He was however given a very poor ride by Fehily that day. To finish where he did after being held up out the back was a fine effort and he stayed on gamely up the hill to take third closing on Min all the while. That Supreme, certainly as it stands, looks well above average. Everything in it apart from Tombstone (4th), Holly Bush Henry (11th) and last placed Silver Concorde have progressed since and won again - many of them racking up impressive sequences. Even at that 4th place Tombstone has excuses. His only run since the supreme was 2 weeks ago and he went down to Jezki, a former Champion Hurdler by just under 3L.
He then moved on to Aintree where, ridden more prominently, he showed excellent battling qualities to beat Petit Mouchouir and Limini in a G1 and that form looks rock solid now so of course the bookmakers are going to take stock. Petit Mouchouir gave a good beating to Nicholas Canyon the first day at Christmas and was in the process of returning the favour to him again last Sunday before falling. The Wyley horse was third in last years champion hurdle & is the only horse to ever inflict defeat on the mighty Faugheen so on a line through PM again it's clear that BD form lines read fairly impressive.
I'll put it this way, I'd much prefer to take the 6/1 on BD than the 9/2 available on Melon for the Supreme. Now that is a crazy price, 9/2 after beating a horse who won a bumper on his 8th attempt!!
I would've loved to be on BD at bigger prices but at 6/1 NRNB I was happy to take that price to cover my antepost Faugheen bet should he not make it. If he wins the Morebattle at Kelso comfortably or if Geraghty decides to jump on his back come March he could well be shorter.
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