Champion Hurdle on The Race Lab

Lossiemouth Makes It Six From Eleven: The Champion Hurdle Has Become a Mares' Race

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Lossiemouth bolted up in the Champion Hurdle this afternoon, beating Brighterdaysahead by six and a half lengths under Paul Townend. A proper demolition job that extended her perfect Cheltenham record to five wins from five starts.

But the bigger story isn’t about one horse. It’s about what’s happened to the Champion Hurdle over the past decade.

The Numbers Are Stark

We pulled every Champion Hurdle result since 2003 from our database. In the first 13 runnings (2003-2015), zero mares won. Not one. A handful ran, none troubled the judge.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Day 1 Preview: Champion Day Tips, Picks & Analysis

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Cheltenham Festival 2026: Day 1 (Champion Day) — Full Race-by-Race Preview

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | Cheltenham Racecourse

Champion Day. The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival sets the tone for the whole week, and 2026 promises to be one of the most compelling openers in years. Seven races, from the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle through to the National Hunt Chase, feature a cast of horses that have been building to this moment all season. Here’s our full breakdown — race by race, horse by horse.

Brighterdaysahead and the Cheltenham Problem: Can She Crack It at the Third Attempt?

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Eddie O’Leary doesn’t do fake optimism. So when he appeared on Nick Luck’s podcast this week and said he was “nervous, not excited” about Brighterdaysahead’s Champion Hurdle chances, it was worth paying attention. He used the word “hoodoo” — and the numbers back him up.

Two runs at the Cheltenham Festival. Two disappointments. In the 2024 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, she went off the 5/6 favourite and finished second, beaten 1¾ lengths by Lossiemouth. Ran keenly early, couldn’t quicken when it mattered. Last March in the Champion Hurdle itself, she was sent off 5/2 favourite, led before three out, and weakened to finish fourth — beaten 19½ lengths by 25/1 shot Golden Ace.

The Champion Hurdle Nobody Wanted to Win: Constitution Hill's Exit Leaves Racing's Most Cursed Race Wide Open

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Michael Buckley called it “heartbreaking.” Ed Chamberlin called it “absolutely the right decision.” The numbers call it something else entirely: inevitable.

Constitution Hill’s official withdrawal from the 2026 Champion Hurdle — confirmed today, 13 days before the Festival — ends one of the most spectacular declines in Championship racing history. But here’s what makes this story truly extraordinary: he’s not the only star this race has broken.

Three Falls, One Flat Win, Zero Cheltenham

Let’s lay out Constitution Hill’s last five competitive runs over hurdles:

Constitution Hill Wins at Southwell: The Data Behind a Remarkable Reinvention

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

We wrote yesterday’s preview suggesting Constitution Hill’s Flat switch looked more like a desperate measure than an exhibition. We were wrong about the desperation part. Nothing about Friday night looked desperate.

Nine and a half lengths. Oisin Murphy sat motionless. The in-race comment from SmartForm reads like a horse operating in a different postcode to his rivals: “travelled strongly, midfield, smooth headway 2f out, soon ridden to lead, went clear approaching final furlong, stayed on well, impressive.”

Constitution Hill's Flat Debut: What the Numbers Say About Tonight's Southwell Novice

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

A horse rated 175 over hurdles, running in a novice stakes at Southwell on a Friday evening. If you’d pitched this storyline two years ago, you’d have been laughed out of the room.

Constitution Hill — twice Champion Hurdle winner, owner of a Cheltenham performance so devastating they called it the best since Istabraq — lines up tonight at 7:30 in a 12-runner novice on the Fibresand. He’s 11/4 second favourite behind the Kevin de Foy-trained Square Necker at 13/8.

Alexei Joins an Exclusive Kingwell Club — But Is He Good Enough for the Champion Hurdle?

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Three Kingwell Hurdle winners have gone on to take the Champion Hurdle this century. Golden Ace did it just last year. Katchit managed it in 2008. Hors La Loi III in 2002. So when Alexei ground out a length-and-a-quarter victory over Rubaud in Saturday’s Grade 2 at Wincanton, it was natural to wonder whether he could be the fourth.

The honest answer? Probably not. But there’s enough in his profile to make things interesting.

Tutti Quanti: Can Nicholls' Rapidly Improving Hurdler Gatecrash the Champion Hurdle?

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Paul Nicholls doesn’t do things quietly. After Tutti Quanti demolished a strong field in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury last Saturday, the 14-time champion trainer dropped a bombshell: the Champion Hurdle is under serious consideration.

“We’re going to really consider the Champion Hurdle if it keeps on raining and the ground is on the slow side,” Nicholls wrote in his Betfair blog this week. “The way he won last Saturday suggests he’s rapidly improving and when they’re improving you never know where their ceiling might be.”

Gordon Elliott's Cheltenham Arsenal: The Numbers Behind His 2026 Festival Assault

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Gordon Elliott had to wait until the very last race of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival to get on the scoreboard. Wodhooh’s victory in the Martin Pipe at 9/2 saved an otherwise frustrating week, but one winner from a yard that had 30-plus runners felt like underperformance from a man with 41 Festival victories to his name.

Four weeks out from the 2026 renewal, the mood at Cullentra House is markedly different.

Constitution Hill's Champion Hurdle Gamble: The Numbers Behind Henderson's Biggest Risk

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:15:00 +0000

The speculation has reached fever pitch. Will Constitution Hill line up in the Unibet Champion Hurdle? Nicky Henderson’s nine-year-old superstar is pencilled in for a Flat race at Southwell on February 20 — a “glorified bumper” as Charlie Johnston described it — with the Cheltenham Festival potentially following three weeks later.

Ben Pauling, Henderson’s assistant, stoked the flames on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday: “I would [run him in the Champion Hurdle]. He’s just so talented, and he’s got so much left to give.”

Tutti Quanti's 12st Triumph: The Heaviest Weight Ever in the William Hill Hurdle

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:15:00 +0000

Harry Cobden barely had to move. Tutti Quanti simply galloped his rivals into submission at Newbury on Saturday, hitting the line fifteen lengths clear with theCommentary barely breaking stride. But it wasn’t just the margin that raised eyebrows—it was the weight he was lumping around.

Twelve stone. In a fiercely competitive two-mile handicap hurdle. First time ever.

According to SmartForm data, no horse in the modern history of the William Hill Hurdle (formerly the Betfair Hurdle) has won carrying 168lbs. The previous benchmark was 162lbs—a mark shared by five different winners including Glory And Fortune (2022), Iberico Lord (2024), and Paul Nicholls’ own Pic D’Orhy (2020).

Wilful's Champion Hurdle Bid Faces Kingwell Test: Is 142 Enough?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Jonjo and AJ O’Neill will learn exactly where they stand with Champion Hurdle hopeful Wilful this Saturday, when the progressive hurdler steps into Grade 2 company for the BetMGM Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.

The six-year-old has been a model of consistency this season, reaching the frame in all four starts and climbing from a handicap mark of 121 to his current rating of 142. That Windsor second last month — carrying top weight in a competitive Class 2 handicap — convinced connections the gelding had earned his shot at better company.

Tutti Quanti's 15-Length Annihilation: A Champion Hurdle Supplementary Shock in the Making?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Paul Nicholls knows a thing or two about extracting championship performances from handicap stars. Saturday’s demolition job at Newbury suggested he might have another on his hands.

Tutti Quanti didn’t just win the William Hill Hurdle — he brutalised the opposition. Fifteen lengths clear carrying 12 stone on heavy ground, the French-bred seven-year-old became the first horse to lift this prize under such a crushing burden. The record books didn’t stand a chance.