Category: Races

Historically the ‘getting out stakes’ at the Cheltenham Festival, the County Hurdle is currently scheduled as the second race on Gold Cup Day but, with a safety limit of 26, remains as competitive as ever. Run over two miles and a furlong on the New Course and open to horses aged five years and upwards, the race has produced just two winning favourites since 2015, one of which was subsequent Champion Hurdle winner State Man. At the other end of the betting spectrum, winners at 33/1 (three times), 25/1 and 20/1 in the past decade are indicative of the problem the County Hurdle presents punters.

Competitive though it may be, Willie Mullins has saddled seven winners of the County Hurdle, namely Thousand Stars (2010), Final Approach (2011), Wicklow Brave (2015), Arctic Fire (2017), Saint Roi (2020), State Man (2022) and Absurde (2024), making him the leading trainer since World War II. His stable jockey, Paul Townend, rode four of those winners and is, jointly, the leading jockey.

The 158-rated Arctic Fire (11st 12lb) was something of an outlier, insofar as all the other winners since 2015 were officially rated between 134 and 146 and eight of them carried 11st 1lb or less. Likewise Arctic Fire, Ch’tibello (2019) and Favoir (2023) were all eight-year-olds, but the other seven winners in that period were aged five or six. Interestingly, Warwickshire trainer Dan Skelton all saddled four winners of the County Hurdle, only one of which was in the first three in the betting, all in the last 10 years.

The closing race on St. Patrick’s Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival, Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a handicap steeplechase run over three and a quarter miles on the New Course and open to horses aged five years and upwards, officially rated 0-145, to be ridden by amateur jockeys. The race was established in 1946, in memory of Ian Kay ‘Kim’ Muir, himself a former amateur jockey, who was killed in action with the Royal Hussars during World War II, aged 23. In 1991, the name of Fulke Walwyn, the celebrated trainer who died in February that year, was added to the race title.

Indeed, Fred Rimmell, who was a contemporary of Fulke Walwyn, remains the leading trainer in the history of the race, having saddled Mighty Fine (1951), Gay Monarch II (1955), Nicolaus Silver (1961) and Double Negative (1977). Much more recently, one of the finest amateur jockeys of his generation, Jamie Codd, has also ridden four winners, namely Character Building (2009), Junior (2011), The Package (2015) and Cause of Causes (2016), and is the leading jockey.

Fancied horses have typically fared well in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup in recent years, with two winning favourites and five more winners at single-figure prices in the last decade. That said, Domesday Book (2017) and Chambard (2022) were both sent off at 40/1, so the odd ‘shock’ result is by no means out of the question. Indeed, Chambard was the only winner in the last 10 years to carry less than 11st 0lb to victory.

As the name suggests, the Pertemps Network Final marks the culmination of a series of 14 qualifying races run over distances between 21 and 25 furlongs at various venues throughout Britain from late October onwards, from which any horse that finishes in the first four is eligible for the final. Formerly the Coral Golden Hurdle, the race was inaugurated in 1974, but has been sponsored by the Pertemps recruitment agency since 2002.

The Pertemps Network Final is run over three miles on the New Course and is currently scheduled as the third race on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival, a.k.a. St. Patrick’s Thursday. A typical Festival handicap – indeed, nowadays, a ‘Premier Handicap’, according to the British Horseracing Authority – the race has a safety limit of 24 and, from a punting perspective, is no easier to solve than any of the others.

The remarkable Willie Wumpkins, ridden by leading amateur Jim Wilson, scored an unprecedented hat-trick in 1979, 1980, and 1981, making Wilson, jointly, the most successful jockey in the history of the race alongside Davy Russell and Barry Geraghty. Local trainer Jonjo O’Neill, with four wins so far, is the leading handler.

Granted the competitive nature of the race, it should come as no great surprise that Sire Du Berlais (2019) was the only winning favourite in the past decade. That said, the Pertemps Network Final has not been a race for massive outsiders in recent years, with Monmiral (2024) and Third Wind (2022), who were both sent off at 25/1, the longest-priced winners since 2015.

Registered as the Festival Trophy, the race that is nowadays better known as the Ryanair Chase was inaugurated in 2005, when the Cheltenham Festival was extended from three days to four. It was run once under the auspices of the Daily Telegraph, unsurprisingly as the Daily Telegraph Festival Trophy Chase, but has been sponsored by the Irish low-cost airline group ever since.

Run over the intermediate distance of two miles and four and a half furlongs on the New Course at Cheltenham, the Ryanair Chase was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2008 and is now described by the ‘Racing Post’ as the ‘feature’ race on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival. Indeed, the Ryanair Chase is worth £375,000 in guaranteed prize money, whereas the Stayers’ Hurdle, which it precedes by 40 minutes, is worth £50,000 less.

The omnipresent Willie Mullins is the leading trainer in the history of the Ryanair Chase, having saddled Vautour (2016), Un de Sceaux (2017), Min (2020) and Allaho (2021, 2022). Indeed, the last-named is one of just two horses to have won the race twice, the other being Albertas Run, trained by Jonjo O’Neill, who recorded back-to-back victories under Tony McCoy in 2010 and 2011.

From a punting perspective, the good news is that just two of the last 10 winners, Uxizandre in 2015 and Protektorat in 2024, came from outside the first three in the betting and four of them were sent off outright favourite. It is also worth noting that nine of the last 10 winners achieved at least one first- or second-placed finish in their last two starts.

The Festival Plate, or the TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase, to give the race its full, sponsored title, began life, as the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase, in 1951. The race originally commemorated Anthony Bingham Mildmay, Second Baron Mildmay of Flete, who was a leading amateur jockey prior to his untimely death, aged 41, on May 12, 1950.

Nowadays, TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase is classified as a ‘Premier Handicap’ by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and is scheduled as the penultimate race on the penultimate day of the Cheltenham Festival, a.k.a. St. Patrick’s Day. The race is run over two miles and four and a half furlongs, and 17 fences, on the New Course at Cheltenham and is open to horses aged five years and upwards. That said, Majadou (1999) remains the only five-year-old ever to have won.

Coincidentally, Martin Pipe, who trained Majadou, remains, jointly, the most successful trainer in the history of the race, alongside Bobby Renton and Nicky Henderson, with four winners. Even more remarkably, Fred Winter, who retired from the saddle in 1964, remains the most successful jockey, with three winners, including a memorable dead-heat on Slender, trained by Ryan Price, in 1951.

Three favourites have won in the past decade but, while there were two more winners at single-figure prices in that period, they were accompanied by winners at 33/1, 22/1, 20/1, 16/1 and 14/1. Great Britain and Ireland are tied 5:5 in the last 10 runnings, but it is worth noting that Carrickboy, who popped up at 50/1 in 2013, was the last winner to be officially rated less than 140.