Mares’ Hurdle

The Mares’ Hurdle is the third race on the first day of racing at the Cheltenham Festival. The race was first established in 2008 and its registered title is named in tribute to the former jockey and trainer David Nicholson. Nicholson managed 5 wins as a jockey and 17 victories as a trainer at Cheltenham down the years. This race is also synonymous with Quevega who prevailed victorious on 6 occasions between 2009 and 2014.

Mares’ Hurdle Overview

The Mares’ Hurdle is a Grade One hurdle race run over 2 miles, 3 furlongs, and 200 yards on the old course. There will be ten hurdles to be safely navigated during the race and the contest is open to mares aged four years or older.

The race takes place on the open day of the Cheltenham Festival as the fifth race and the winner is likely to collect around £72,000.

Mares’ Hurdle Betting Trends and Statistics

• The contest has only been run seventeen times and 14 of the winners were trained in Ireland including 10 from Closutton maestro Willie Mullins.
• All bar one of the winners had already proved themselves against their male counterparts having won against them previously.
• The market is normally a good guide to this race with 10 of the 17 winners returning at 9/4 or shorter although there have been three double-figure priced winners between 2019 and 2022 with Roksana (10-1), Black Tears (11-1) and Marie’s Rock (18-1).
• Apart from the outstanding Quevega who won the race six consecutive years and the superstar Honeysuckle, every other winner has been seven years or younger.
• Having previously shown form at the Cheltenham Festival is a good guide with 10 of the winners having previously placed or won at the previous year’s Festival including last year’s winner Lossiemouth who had won the Triumph Hurdle the year before.

Mares’ Hurdle History

The race was first run in 2008 when it was run on the final day of festival racing on the new course. It was switched to the opening day in 2009 on the old course.

The race’s registered title commemorates the legendary jockey & trainer David ‘The Duke’ Nicholson who sadly passed away in 2006. His record at the Festival included five wins as a jockey and seventeen as a trainer.

It was run as the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle from 2012 for seven years before Close Brothers took over sponsorship until the present day.

Mares’ Hurdle Winners