William Hill Hurdle

William Hill Hurdle Overview

The William Hill Hurdle is a Premier Handicap hurdles race that is run usually in early February. It attracts high-class hurdlers over a trip of two miles. It has previously served as a trial for the Champion Hurdle itself at the Cheltenham Festival around six weeks down the line. The last horse to win both races was Make A Stand in 1997.

The race is run at Newbury and there are eight flights of hurdles to be jumped. The race carries a valuable first prize of over £87,000. The recent renewal went to Nicky Henderson’s Joyeuse who was a cosy 8L winner giving his trainer a record seventh win in the prestigious contest.

William Hill Hurdle Betting Trends and Statistics

• Local trainer Nicky Henderson is the leading trainer in the race with seven victories with his latest four this century being Geos (2004), My Tent Or Yours (2013), Iberico Lord (2024) and Joyuese (2025).
• Gary Moore has also won the race three times in recent years with Heathcote (2007), Wingman (2008) and Violet Dancer (2015).
• Nigel Twiston-Davies also has a fine recent record with Splash Of Ginge (2014), Ballyandy (2017) and Al Dancer (2019) all winning for the Cotswolds based handler..
• Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the William Hill Hurdle are Paul Nicholls (2) and Jonjo O’Neill (2).
• Multiple big-name trainers have not had the best of times in recent renewals in the William Hill Hurdle. Philip Hobbs (0-24), Alan King (0-23), Willie Mullins (0-20) and David Pipe (0-19) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.
• The joint leading jockeys in the William Hill Hurdle over the recent years are Sam Twiston-Davies who has won the race twice with Ballyandy (2017) and Al Dancer (2019) and Nico De Boinville who has scored with Iberico Lord (2024) and Joyeuse (2025).

William Hill Hurdle History

The William Hill Hurdle is a Premier Handicap hurdle race that is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newbury over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in February.

The event was established in 1963, and the inaugural running took place at Aintree Racecourse. The race was originally sponsored by Schweppes, and it was known as the Schweppes Gold Trophy. Ryan Price won the first two renewals with Rosyth and trained four of the first five winners of the race. After Rosyth’s second win, following four unplaced efforts in between, his jockey was suspended for six weeks and his trainer warned off.

More controversy for Price and the Schweppes followed in 1967 when Hill House tested positive for a banned drug. However, it was later shown that Hill House had manufactured his own cortisol. Schweppes’ sponsorship continued until 1986 when it was taken over by Tote Bookmakers (later known as Totesport).

The race was titled the Tote Gold Trophy from 1987 to 2004 and the Totesport Trophy from 2005 to 2011. From 2012 to 2024, the race was sponsored by Betfair and known as the Betfair Hurdle. William Hill has taken over sponsorship of the race for the 2025 renewal.

Two winners of the race – Persian War and Make a Stand – subsequently achieved victory in the following month’s Champion Hurdle. Persian War holds the weight-carrying record for the race when winning as a 5-year-old in 1968 with 11 stones and 13 pounds on his back.

William Hill Hurdle Winners