County Hurdle Odds: King of Kingsfield leads the way for Elliott

The County Hurdle (14:10) is arguably the hottest handicap of the week at the Festival, and it's a contest that Willie Mullins has won a record six times.

Below are the County Hurdle Odds of the main contenders, and this is an Extra Place Race, so Betfred are paying 5 places instead of 4 at 1/5 the odds for all each-way bets.

King of Kingsfield @ 9/2

Gordon Elliott's King of Kingsfield heads the betting market at 9/2.

The six-year-old was the winner of a Leopardstown maiden hurdle over two miles at Christmas, and he also finished second in the Grade 1 Royal Bond prior to that.

L'Eau Du Sud @ 5/1

Dan Skelton's first entry is L'Eau Du Sud, who can be backed currently at 5/1.

The six-year-old was a dual hurdles winner in France and his best effort so far for this yard was finishing only behind Iberico Lord in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.

Absurde @ 7/1

The Willie Mullins-trained Absurde is next in the betting at 7/1.

He won the Ebor at York last summer and also ran well in the Melbourne Cup. He's come up shy in two Grade 1 novices' hurdles since but could pose an outside threat here.

Bialystok @ 10/1

Another entry for Willie Mullins in Bialystok, who's priced up at 10/1.

He has enjoyed a solid first season over hurdles, winning two of his four starts. The six-year-old ran well at the Dublin Racing Festival last month when he was brought down two out. Get the sense he's capable of a big performance.

Pied Piper @ 10/1

Gordon Elliott's second entry in this race comes in the form of Pied Piper, who can be backed at 10/1.

He has placed in the Triumph Hurdle and this race at the past two Festivals, and also enjoyed a second-place finish at Newmarket in October.

Zenta @ 11/1

A third runner for Willie Mullins in Zenta, who's next in the betting at 11/1.

The five-year-old mare was third behind stablemate Lossiemouth in the Triumph Hurdle last season, before winning a Grade 1 contest at Aintree in April. A solid third-place finish at Leopardstown last month sees her come into this race in respectable form.

Magical Zoe @ 12/1

Henry de Bromhead's Magical Zoe was second in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle here last season, and enjoyed success at Gowran Park in September.

She's expected to give another bold showing here, after finishing second in a 21-runner ultra-competitive handicap at Leopardstown last month.

So Scottish @ 14/1

Another Mullins runner, but this time it's Emmet with So Scottish, who's available to back at 14/1.

He produced his best hurdles effort when coming fourth at the Dublin Racing Festival last time out, against some of the runners in this race.

Faivoir @ 14/1

Another Dan Skelton entry here, and Faivoir is currently priced up at 14/1.

The nine-year-old held off Pied Piper to win this race a year ago, and was beaten by a nose in the Imperial Cup at Sandown last Saturday.

Find more Cheltenham Tips here at Betfred Insights