Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Overview

The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is the traditional curtain raiser to the week. Run over two miles and 87 yards of the old course with eight hurdles to be jumped. It takes place on day one of the Festival on Tuesday with the winning prize money being around £76,000.

As the opener of the whole meeting, the start is traditionally greeted by the ‘Cheltenham Roar’ as the crowd cheers at the beginning of the week’s racing.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Betting Trends and Statistics

• The two top trainers with the best recent record are Willie Mullins (5 wins from last 12 runnings) and Nicky Henderson (3 from last 12).
• Class normally rises to the top with 24 of the last 28 winners having won last time out although the 2024 winner Slade Steel had finished runner-up on his penultimate start.
• The best age is 5 or 6 years old, as 15 of the last 16 winners came from that age bracket. Four-year-olds have a particularly poor recent record in the race and are 0-15 this century.
• Ireland has a good record in the race winning 15 of the 25 renewals this century (including 8 of the past 12).
• The market is always a good guide to the likely winner with 11 of the past 12 winners returning a SP in single figures with 7 of those starting at 6-1 or under).
• The winner will be deemed to be the best two-mile novice hurdler around and will be back the following year normally to challenge for the Champion Hurdle.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle History

The race was originally called the Gloucestershire Hurdle and was split into two or even three divisions. Its current format began in 1972. The event has had several sponsors over the years including Lloyds Bank and Waterford Crystal with the current sponsor being Sky Bet.

Some of the noteworthy winners throughout the years include Golden Cygnet (1978), Brave Inca (2004), Vautour (2014), Douvan (2015), Altior (2016), Shishkin (2020) and Constitution Hill (2022). Last year’s contest was won by Marine Nationale.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Winners