A two mile race for the fastest hurdlers in national hunt racing. An ability to travel well at speed and jump without losing momentum is crucial.
To read 100s of tips on this race head over to our main horse racing section on OLBG or install the OLBG tips app by simply searching OLBG in the app stores.
Below we go into the race in much more detail. We will cover stats and trends our expert tipsters have highlighted in forum posts or blogs and pick out some of the key form points they have highlighted.
Hurricane Fly on the way to winning the Champion Hurdle
Champion Hurdle Trends
| 15/15 | aged between 5yo & 9yo |
| 15/15 | had run within the past 78 days |
| 15/15 | were foaled between February & May |
| 15/15 | had a jockey who had more rides on the card (0-31 those with sole ride) |
| 15/15 | had won within their last 3 starts |
| 15/15 | had previous won a C1 and ran in a G1 |
| 15/15 | had made 2-7 starts in the past year |
| 15/15 | had made 5+ starts in a C1 |
| 15/15 | had been ridden by the jockey in the past (0-38 the others) |
| 15/15 | had made 1-5 starts that season |
| 15/15 | had won 5+ races in their career |
| 15/15 | had won 2+ C1 races |
| 15/15 | had won at least twice going left handed |
| 15/15 | were no bigger than 9/2 last time out |
| 15/15 | finished in the first four last time out |
| 14/15 | had won 4+ races over the trip or further |
Many of the OLBG members carry out detailed research in the race to uncover the trends of past winners. Blogger
Robmull has written a detailed blog last year entitled
Champion Hurdle Key Race Trends - 14 March 2017. The blog looks at the previous ten year winners of the Champion Hurdle and shows how they each scored against the trends.
Champion Hurdle Last Ten Winners
| Year | Horse | Age | Trainer | Jockey | Price |
| 2017 | Buveur DAir | 7yo | N Henderson | N Fehily | 5/1 |
| 2016 | Annie Power | 8yo | W Mullins | R Walsh | 5/2F |
| 2015 | Faugheen | 7yo | W Mullins | R Walsh | 4/5F |
| 2014 | Jezki | 6yo | Mrs J Harrington | B Geraghty | 9/1 |
| 2013 | Hurricane Fly | 9yo | W Mullins | R Walsh | 13/8F |
| 2012 | Rock On Ruby | 7yo | P Nicholls | N Fehily | 11/1 |
|
| 2011 | Hurricane Fly | 7yo | W Mullins | R Walsh | 11/4F |
2010 | Binocular | 6yo | N Henderson | AP McCoy | 9/1 | | 2009 | Punjabi | 6yo | N Henderson | B Geraghty | 22/1 |
| 2008 | Katchit | 5yo | A King | R Thornton | 10/1 |
The table above shows the last ten winners of the race, their age at the time of winning, trainer, jockey and odds (starting price).
Champion Hurdle Top Trainers
Below is a table of how some of the top trainers have fared in the last ten years in the Champion Hurdle:
| Trainer | Runners | Wins | Places | Win LSP | Each Way LSP |
| N Henderson | 21 | 2 | 7 | 12.00 | 15.09 |
| W Mullins | 14 | 4 | 4 | -2.32 | 1.32 |
| P Nicholls | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4.00 | 1.44 |
| A King | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4.00 | 0.25 |
| N Twiston Davies | 5 | 0 | 2 | -5.00 | -2.7 |
| D McCain | 5 | 0 | 2 | -5.00 | 0.94 |
| J Harrington | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7.00 | 3.63 |
| D Pipe | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3.00 | -1.94 |
| P Hobbs | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3.00 | -3.00 |
Amazingly
Nicky Henderson and
Willie Mullins have filled seventeen of the thirty horses that have finished 1-2-3 in the last ten Champion Hurdles.
Henderson's supporters will be doing best however thanks to the big priced victories of Punjabi (22/1) and Binocular (9/1).
David Pipe has been surprisingly quiet in the Champion Hurdle in recent years with only three entries in the last ten runnings but he has decided to run crack novice
Moon Racer here rather then in the Supreme Novices.
Champion Hurdle Form Tips and Analysis
OLBG member
Leicester Bigot feels that
Brain Power can make the step up from handicap company in a year marred by the number of quality horses missing from this race due to injury:
Brain Power has impressed me in how quickly (ten months) he has improved by two stones. His progression seems genuine enough, beating the same horse the last twice, increasing his superiority by more than four lengths on four pounds worse terms on the second occasion. Brain Power went right away from them at Ascot carrying 11-11 and he is not going to be without a chance in an open year. The 4th horse from Brain Power's last race ran a cracker in 3rd in the Coral.ie Hurdle at Leopardstown, beaten only a length and the 7th horse Modus won easily at Kempton in the Lanzarote and it's solid looking form when you factor in weight concessions and distances beaten behind Brain Power.
See more
tips on the Champion Hurdle here via the OLBG forum.
The next race on Day 1 is the highlight of the Cheltenham Festival:
The OLBG Mares Hurdle! Check out the tips and race preview for our race here.