Novices’ Hurdle: Cheltenham Festival Race14 Mar 2000: Charlie Swan rides Istabraq to win The Smurfit Champion Hurdle Race during the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse in England. Phil Cole/Getty Images

The Novices’ Hurdle kicks off the second day of the Cheltenham Festival, and introduces some of the most promising novices in National Hunt racing to the challenging world of jump racing. 

The Novices’ Hurdle is a relatively recent addition to the Cheltenham Festival and was first run in 1971 when Midsprite raced to victory ridden by Macer Gifford. The race is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle and is run at the old course at Cheltenham Racecourse.

The Novices’ Hurdle is only open to novices four years old and above. Horses are required to race a relatively long 2 mile, 5 furlong race which features ten challenging hurdles. As a middle length hurdle race Novices’ Hurdle winners need to be able to balance speed and stamina during this demanding race.

Novices’ Hurdle Winners

As a novice event the Novices’ Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival race, produces a new winner every year. Whilst the race does not have the reputation of producing future champions, it was the Novices’ Hurdle that introduced the excellent Istabraq to the racing world when he won the race in 1997.

Some of the finest jockeys in National Hunt racing have won the Novices’ Hurdle. As might be expected the Irish have put in a strong showing in the short history of the race, and the jockey with the most Novices’ Hurdle wins is Charlie Swan with three Novices’ Hurdle winner titles.

No trainer can claim supremacy in the Novices’ Hurdle with none having trained more than two Novices’ Hurdle winners. In fact it has been over a decade since any trainer has claimed more than one Novices’ Hurdle title, with Aidan O’Brien the last trainer to accomplish this feat.

Novices’ Hurdle Betting

Novices’ races are greeted with equal measures of enthusiasm and caution by experienced punters. As in any novice event, picking a winner is notoriously difficult and punters tend to look out for horses with a track record in any other format of racing as a guide to potential performances.

The favourite in the Novice Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival race, betting markets at present is Aranleigh, but it is not unusual for betting markets to get shaken up in the lead up to the Cheltenham Festival.

For live horse race betting and daily special offers we recommend William Hill.