The Grade One Champion Hurdle is the feature contest on day one (Tuesday) of the Cheltenham Festival and is run over 2m on the old course. We give you the key Champion Hurdle trends to help you pick the winner based on past statistics. Use these trends to find the best profiles – including age, trainer, current form etc, of recent Champion Hurdle winners.
The Champion Hurdle is recognised as the most prestigious hurdling race of the jumps season and is currently sponsored by leading bookmaker Unibet – the 2021 Champion Hurdle winner was the Henry De Bromhead-trained mare Honeysuckle, powered home to win by 6 ½ lengths, and is likely to be back for more to defend her Champion Hurdle title in 2022.
Here at RACING AHEAD we take a look back at recent winners and gives you the key Champion Hurdle trends to look out for ahead of the 2022 renewal – this year run on Tuesday 15th March.
Recent Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle Winners
2021 – HONEYSUCKLE (11/10 fav)
2020 – EPATANTE (2/1 fav)
2019 – ESPOIR D’ALLEN (16/1)
2018 – BUVEUR D’AIR (4/6 fav)
2017 – BUVEUR D’AIR (5/1)
2016 – ANNIE POWER (5/2 fav)
2015 – FAUGHEEN (4/5 fav)
2014 – JEZKI (9/1)
2013 – HURRICANE FLY (13/8 fav)
2012 – ROCK ON RUBY (11/1)
2011 – HURRICANE FLY (11/4 fav)
2010 – BINOCULAR (9/1)
2009 – PUNJABI (22/1)
2008 – KATCHIT (10/1)
2007 – SUBLIMITY (16/1)
2006 – BRAVE INCA (7/4 fav)
2005 – HARDY EUSTACE (7/2 jfav)
2004 – HARDY EUSTACE (33/1)
2003 – ROOSTER BOOSTER (9/2)
Key Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle Betting Trends
18/19 – Finished in the top 3 last time out
17/19 – Had raced at Cheltenham before
17/19 – Aged 8 or younger
16/19 – Had raced within the last 7 weeks
16/19 – Rated 159 or higher
15/19 – Won last time out
14/19 – Had finished in the top 4 in a Cheltenham Festival race the season before
14/19 – Had won 6 or more times over hurdles before
13/19 – Placed favourites
12/19 – Aged 6 or 7 years-old
11/19 – Had won at Cheltenham before
11/19 – Irish trained winners
11/19 – Winning distance – 2 1/2 lengths or more
10/19 – Irish-bred winners
9/19 – Winning favourites (1 joint)
8/19 – Came from outside the top 3 in the betting
7/19 – Had won a race at the Cheltenham Festival the previous season
6/19 – Ran in the previous season’s Champion Hurdle
5/19 – Trained by Nicky Henderson (has won the race 8 times in all)
4/19 – Trained by Willie Mullins
The average winning SP in the last 19 runnings is 8/1
Champion Hurdle Stats:
5 year-olds are just 3 from 109 since 1985
32 of the last 38 winners won their previous race
24 of the last 36 winners were placed in the top 4 at the previous season’s Cheltenham Festival
23 of the last 26 winners had a race that calendar year (i.e we are looking for horses that have run in 2022)
28 of the last 31 winners hailed from the first 6 in the betting market
Just 4 of the last 31 Christmas Hurdle winners have gone onto win the Champion Hurdle that season
Irish-trained horses have won 14 of the last 23 renewals
Champion Hurdle – UK vs Ireland (Last 24 Years)
14/24 – Irish-trained winners
10/24 – British-trained winners
