Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
Breeding & Pedigree Guide
Ahead of the start of the Cheltenham Festival, this blog will look at the three main novice hurdle races, the Supreme Novices Hurdle, the Baring Bingham (Turners) Novices Hurdle, the Mares Novices Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle.
OLBG members will be adding their horse racing tips on these races during the Festival and along with those, hopefully, this blog will help them can help you.
Novice races are usually for horses that hadn't won a race before the current season, so in practice, the runners are usually in their first season over the type of obstacle to be jumped.
That said some horses fail to win for a full season and so go on to become second-season novices. Some rules allow a horse that didn't win a novice race until very late in a season to compete in some novice races at the start of the following season, although this won't be in play at the festival.
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Supreme Novices Hurdle
The Supreme Novices Hurdle is a grade one contest over an extended two miles and as the name suggests it is for hurdlers in their novice year. Since it is the first race of the festival as the horses go off they are accompanied by the famous Cheltenham roar.
In terms of breeding, the last twenty winners have all been either French, British or Irish bred, however, those have also made up the vast number of the runners with only 19 bred elsewhere.
Chestnut runners don't have a great record, 18 of the last 20 races have featured at least one of those and they have not won any, they are 0-31 over the last twenty renewals.
Do watch out for any grey entries, 28 have been entered over the last 20 renewals and they have gone on to win 4 of those races so for a relatively low number of entrants they have won plenty.
There have not been any standout sires for this race, the last twenty winners all being sired by a different horse, Galileo (0-7), Kayf Tara (0-7) and Oscar (0-5) have all sired five or more entrants without success.
Here are the Supreme Novices Hurdle past winners for the last 5 renewals
| Year | Horse | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 3:52.04 | Kopek Des Bordes (FR) 5yo 11-7 4/6F | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2024 4:12.87 | Slade Steel (IRE) 6yo 11-7 7/2 | Rachael Blackmore Henry De Bromhead (IRE) |
| 2023 3:59.69 | Marine Nationale (IRE) 6yo 11-7 9/2 | Michael O'Sullivan Barry Connell (IRE) |
| 2022 3:44.35 | Constitution Hill (GB) 5yo 11-7 9/4F | Nico de Boinville Nicky Henderson (GB) |
| 2021 3:56.32 | Appreciate It (IRE) 7yo 11-7 8/11F | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle
The Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle (Turners Novices Hurdle) is the middle-distance event for novice hurdlers taking place as the first race of the second day of the festival.
Ideally, you are looking for either a French or Irish-bred runner in this race as they have supplied 18 of the last 20 winners and won every renewal between 2013 & 2024.
The last winner who was not either French or Irish-bred was when the British-bred The New Lion won in 2025.
There have been three dual-winning sires over the past twenty renewals with Court Cave (2017 & 2019), Germany (2014 & 2018) and Presenting (2011 & 2016) all providing multiple winners.
Those who have not been so lucky are the likes of Beneficial (0-7), Westerner (0-6), Getaway (0-6) and Milan (0-5).
Here are the Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle past winners for the last 5 renewals
| Year | Horse | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 5:11.07 | The New Lion (GB) 6yo 11-7 3/1 | Harry Skelton Dan Skelton (GB) |
| 2024 5:22.96 | Ballyburn (IRE) 6yo 11-7 1/2F | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2023 5:10.74 | Impaire Et Passe (FR) 5yo 11-7 5/2 | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2022 5:20.38 | Sir Gerhard (IRE) 7yo 11-7 8/11F | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2021 5:05.05 | Bob Olinger (IRE) 6yo 11-7 6/4F | Rachael Blackmore Henry De Bromhead (IRE) |
Mares Novices Hurdle
The Mares Novices Hurdle is the newest of the novices hurdles that feature at the Cheltenham Festival with it being added in 2016, the race is contested by mares over two miles and one furlong and is a Grade 2.
The first seven renewals saw either a French or Irish-bred runner win the race, however, in both 2023 & 2024, we saw British-bred runners win the renewals.
- 4-53 - French Bred
- 4-89 - Irish Bred
- 2-30 - British Bred
- 0-4 - Others
Westerner (2022 & 2025) is the only dual-winning sire of the race while there are a few sires who have not had the best of times with Flemensfirth (0-9), Getaway (0-7), No Risk At All (0-6), Walk In The Park (0-6), Martaline (0-5), Yeats (0-5) and Doctor Dino (0-5).
Here are the Mares Novices Hurdle past winners for the last 5 renewals
| Year | Horse | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 4:04.26 | Air Of Entitlement (IRE) 6yo 11-4 16/1 | Rachael Blackmore Henry De Bromhead (IRE) |
| 2024 4:20.60 | Golden Ace (GB) 6yo 11-2 10/1 | Lorcan Williams Jeremy Scott (GB) |
| 2023 4:06.70 | You Wear It Well (GB) 6yo 11-7 16/1 | Gavin Sheehan Jamie Snowden (GB) |
| 2022 4:08.26 | Love Envoi (IRE) 6yo 11-7 15/2 | Jonathan Burke Harry Fry (GB) |
| 2021 4:03.06 | Telmesomethinggirl (IRE) 6yo 11-2 5/1 | Rachael Blackmore Henry De Bromhead (IRE) |
Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle
This is the longest of the four novice hurdles races, taking place on the Friday of the festival, immediately before the Gold Cup is the Albert Bartlett Novices Chase which is contested over just shy of three miles.
All of the twenty winners of this race have been geldings, however, only twelve of the 359 entries have not been geldings with 10 mares who have only produced two places and two 'Horse'.
The Irish-bred runners have won 70% of the renewals (14-20) including 6 of the last 8, the French bred have 4 wins with their last coming in 2025 and the British bred have just 2 wins which came back-to-back in 2016 & 2017.
17 of the 20 winners were bay horses, 2 of the other 3 were chestnut in colour whilst the other winner was a grey.
Oscar has been the best-performing sire in the race with three winners which came with Black Jack Ketchum (2006), At Fishers Cross (2013) and Kilbricken Storm (2018).
The other multiple winning sires are Kings Theatre, Martaline and Shantou all with two wins whilst Flemensfirth (0-12), Westerner (0-9), Kayf Tara (0-8) and Getaway (0-6) have poor records.
Here are the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle past winners for the last 5 renewals
| Year | Horse | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 5:57.13 | Jasmin De Vaux (FR) 6yo 11-7 6/1 | Paul Townend W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2024 6:24.40 | Stellar Story (IRE) 7yo 11-7 33/1 | Sam Ewing Gordon Elliott (IRE) |
| 2023 5:59.49 | Stay Away Fay (IRE) 6yo 11-7 18/1 | Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls (GB) |
| 2022 5:53.58 | The Nice Guy (IRE) 7yo 11-8 18/1 | Sean O'Keeffe W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2021 6:01.65 | Vanillier (FR) 6yo 11-5 14/1 | Mark Walsh Gavin Cromwell (IRE) |
Schedule for Tuesday at the Cheltenham Festival
Prepare for the ROAR of the Cheltenham Festival on the opening day when the tape goes up for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, the feature on Tuesday is the Champion Hurdle.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Supreme Novices Hurdle | Kopek Des Bordes (FR) 5yo - 4/6 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Arkle Challenge Trophy | Jango Baie (FR) 6yo - 5/1 | Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Ultima Handicap Chase | Myretown (IRE) 8yo - 13/2 | Lucinda Russell Patrick Wadge |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Close Brothers Mares Hurdle | Lossiemouth (FR) 6yo - 4/6 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle | Golden Ace (GB) 7yo - 25/1 | Jeremy Scott Lorcan Williams |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle | Puturhandstogether (IRE) 4yo - 17/2 | Joseph Patrick O'Brien Mark Walsh |
| 17:20 Cheltenham National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup | Haiti Couleurs (FR) 8yo - 7/2 | Rebecca Curtis Ben Jones |
Schedule for Wednesday at the Cheltenham Festival
The dust has settled on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and now on to day two. The feature on the second day is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. We also have the cross country scheduled on Wednesday, a race like Marmite, some love it and some don't!
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Turners Novices Hurdle | The New Lion (GB) 6yo - 3/1 | Dan Skelton Harry Skelton |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Brown Advisory Novices Chase | Lecky Watson (IRE) 7yo - 20/1 | W P Mullins Sean O'Keeffe |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Coral Cup | Jimmy Du Seuil (FR) 6yo - 16/1 | W P Mullins Danny Mullins |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Cross Country Chase | Stumptown (IRE) 8yo - 5/2 | Gavin Cromwell Keith Donoghue |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Queen Mother Champion Chase | Marine Nationale (IRE) 8yo - 5/1 | Barry Connell Sean Flanagan |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Johnny Henderson Grand Annual | Jazzy Matty (FR) 6yo - 15/2 | Cian Collins Danny Gilligan |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Champion Bumper | Bambino Fever (IRE) 5yo - 4/1 | W P Mullins Miss J Townend |
Schedule for Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival
Halfway through the festival and onto day three where the Stayers Hurdle is the feature race. A hurdle race to test the stamina and see how can last best up the Cheltenham hill.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Mares Novices Hurdle | Air Of Entitlement (IRE) 6yo - 16/1 | Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Novices Limited Handicap Chase | Caldwell Potter (FR) 7yo - 7/1 | Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Pertemps Network Final | Doddiethegreat (IRE) 9yo - 25/1 | Nicky Henderson Brian Hughes |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Ryanair Chase | Fact To File (FR) 8yo - 6/4 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Stayers Hurdle | Bob Olinger (IRE) 10yo - 8/1 | Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Festival Plate | Jagwar (FR) 6yo - 3/1 | Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero Jonjo O'Neill Jr |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup | Daily Present (IRE) 8yo - 12/1 | Paul Nolan Mr B T Stone |
Schedule for Friday at the Cheltenham Festival
The final day of the festival and feature race that we have all been waiting for, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in which the Irish have been fairly dominant in recent years.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle | Poniros (GB) 4yo - 100/1 | W P Mullins Jonjo O'Neill Jr |
| 14:00 Cheltenham County Handicap Hurdle | Kargese (FR) 5yo - 3/1 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Mrs Paddy Power Mares Chase | Dinoblue (FR) 8yo - 6/4 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle | Jasmin De Vaux (FR) 6yo - 6/1 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Cheltenham Gold Cup | Inothewayurthinkin (IRE) 7yo - 15/2 | Gavin Cromwell Mark Walsh |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Festival Hunters Chase | Wonderwall (IRE) 9yo - 28/1 | S Curling Mr R James |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle | Wodhooh (FR) 5yo - 9/2 | Gordon Elliott Danny Gilligan |
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Cheltenham Novice Hurdlers Breeding & Pedigree Guide are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
Andy Powell
Content Editor
