SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE

The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is the championship race for 2-mile novice hurdlers and traditional curtain-raiser to the Festival.

As such, it is greeted by the famous Cheltenham roar, as the tapes go up to signal the end of 12 months wait for the highlight of the jumps season.

The field sizes have decreased in recent years but it is still often run at a strong gallop, suiting horses with a high cruising speed.

Grade 1 | 4yo+ novices | Tuesday 13.30 
2 miles ½ furlong | 8 hurdles | Old Course
Weight: 10st 11lb (4yo) / 11st 7lb (5yo+) | Allowance: 7lb for fillies & mares
Prize money (2023): £132,800 | 1st: £75,965

It is often a stepping stone to further glory, with those involved in the finish frequently going on to even bigger and better things.

Brave Inca and Constitution Hill went on to win the Champion Hurdle, while Binocular and Buveur d'Air both placed in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle before doing so.

The Supreme has also showcased future Cheltenham Gold Cup winners: Best Mate, Kicking King and War Of Attrition were runners-up in 2000, 2003 and 2004 respectively.

More recently, Sizing John finished third in 2015 before winning the Gold Cup in 2017.

SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE TRENDS

24 of the last 27 winners had won last time out
7 of the last 10 winners won a Grade 1 on their previous start
6 of the last 10 winners were rated between 153 & 155
10 of the last 11 winners were sent off at single figure odds
8 of the last 11 winners were trained by either Willie Mullins (5) or Nicky Henderson (3)
7 of the last 11 winners were trained in Ireland
4 of the last 19 favourites won (2 joint-favourites)
Updated to include 2023 renewal

Willie Mullins has trained the winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle a total of seven times, but he has also saddled a number of beaten favourites in recent years:

Facile Vega 9/4f (2023), Dysart Dynamo 9/4jf (2022), Asterion Forlonge 9/4f (2020), Getabird 7/4f (2018), Melon 3/1jf (2017) and Min 15/8f (2016).

But the market remains a decent guide - the enigmatic Lebaik is the only Supreme winner at double-figure odds in the last 11 renewals.

The longest-priced winner was Arctic Kinsman at 50/1 in 1994, while 2007 victor Ebaziyan is one of two 40/1 shots to win.

Very few genuine ex-flat horses have featured in the finish recently, with the emphasis instead being on NH pedigrees and, very often, high-class bumper form.

Eight of the last 10 winners were rated 150+ and last year there were three horses rated over 150 and they included the first and second placed finishers.

The last horse to do the Champion Bumper-Supreme double was Champagne Fever in 2013, although Appreciate It was runner-up in the Bumper before winning this race in 2021.

SUPREME NOVICES' HURDLE ODDS

LAST 5 WINNERS’ DATA

YEAR
AGE
OFFICIAL RATING
WEIGHT
2023
6
150
11-7
2022
5
148
11-7
2021
7
153
11-7
2020
6
153
11-7
2019
5
154
11-7

RECENT WINNERS

YEAR
WINNER
JOCKEY / TRAINER
SP
2024
-
/
/
2023
Marine Nationale
Michael O'Sullivan / Barry Connell
9/2
2022
Constitution Hill
Nico de Boinville / Nicky Henderson
9/4jf
2021
Appreciate It
Paul Townend / Willie Mullins
8/11f
2020
Shishkin
Nico de Boinville / Nicky Henderson
6/1
2019
Klassical Dream
Ruby Walsh / Willie Mullins
6/1
2018
Summerville Boy
Noel Fehily / Tom George
9/1
2017
Labaik
Jack Kennedy / Gordon Elliott
25/1
2016
Altior
Nico de Boinville / Nicky Henderson
4/1
2015
Douvan
Ruby Walsh / Willie Mullins
2/1f
2014
Vautour
Ruby Walsh / Willie Mullins
7/2jf
2013
Champagne Fever
Ruby Walsh / Willie Mullins
5/1
2012
Cinders And Ashes
Jason Maguire / Donald McCain
10/1
2011
Al Ferof
Ruby Walsh / Paul Nicholls
10/1
2010
Menorah
Richard Johnson / Philip Hobbs
12/1
2009
Go Native
Paul Carberry / Noel Meade
12/1
2008
Captain Cee Bee
Robert Thornton / Eddie Harty
17/2
2007
Ebaziyan
Davy Condon / Willie Mullins
40/1
2006
Noland
Ruby Walsh / Paul Nicholls
6/1
2005
Arcalis
Graham Lee / Howard Johnson
20/1
2004
Brave Inca
Barry Cash / Colm Murphy
7/2f
2003
Back In Front
Norman Williamson / Edward O'Grady
3/1f
2002
Like-A-Butterfly
Charlie Swan / Christy Roche
7/4f
2001

Festival Cancelled
 
2000
Sausalito Bay
Paul Carberry / Noel Meade
14/1
Scoll down for previous Supreme Novices' Hurdle winners

Marine Nationale was a scintillating Supreme winner in 2023, maintaining his unbeaten record for owner-trainer Barry Connell, with Irish horses filling the first eight places.

This was his first Festival winner as a handler, having previously owned Festival winners. The former hedge-fund manager and amateur rider only got his trainer's licence in 2020.

His horse was a given an ice-cool ride by Michael O'Sullivan, who celebrated his first win in just his second ride at the Festival:

‘THE HORSE IS JUST INCREDIBLE. I TURNED IN AND I WASN’T SURE WHAT I WAS HOLDING ON TO, BUT BY GOD HE ACTUALLY WON EASY’

Constitution Hill produced a performance for the ages in 2022, winning by 22 lengths in a new course record time of 3mins, 44.43secs.

Nico de Boinville's mount simply glided up the hill, drawing comparisons to Golden Cygnet's fabled triumph in 1978.

He subsequently received an official rating of 170, the highest given to a novice hurdler since Anglo-Irish Classifications began in 1999:

‘IT WAS STAGGERING REALLY. HE COULD BE ANYTHING’

Runner-up in the Bumper 12 months earlier, Appreciate It fully justified market support to win the 2021 Supreme for Willie Mullins.

His 24-length victory was the widest winning margin in a hurdle at the Festival this century, albeit his closest pursuer fell at the last:

‘YOU’D HAVE TO THINK THAT WAS A VAUTOUR-LIKE PERFORMANCE’

Nicky Henderson's Shishkin came from some way off the pace to edge out Abacadabras in a thrilling finish in 2020:

‘SHISHKIN HAS GOT THOSE GEARS AND HE NEEDED THEM TODAY TO GET OUT OF THE TROUBLE HE HAD GOT INTO’

Klassical Dream was an emotional winner in 2019, with his owner John Coleman having passed away the previous year.

But his widow Joanne was determined that he should be at Prestbury Park anyway:

‘JOHN’S ASHES ARE IN MY HANDBAG. HE WANTED DESPERATELY TO MAKE THIS CHELTENHAM...AND WE’VE BROUGHT HIM’

Summerville Boy snatched victory in the last few strides in 2018, despite errors at the final two hurdles in the hands of Noel Fehily:

‘I THOUGHT I WAS GONE AT THE SECOND-LAST, I MUST HAVE LOST FIVE, SIX LENGTHS, BUT HE WAS BRAVE AND FOUGHT BACK’

Labaik was a surprise winner in 2017, not least because of a tendency to refuse to start races.

The quirky grey was ridden by 17-year-old Jack Kennedy, for whom it was a first Festival win:

‘I CAN’T BELIEVE IT - IT’S JUST A DREAM COME TRUE. I’LL BE GOING HOME A VERY HAPPY LAD’

Altior won a classic renewal in 2016, beating the likes of Min and Buveur D'Air.

Trainer Nicky Henderson, who had seen future stars Binocular and Sprinter Sacre fall short in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, was relieved:

‘WE’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS SERIOUSLY GOOD. WE’VE HAD SOME VERY GOOD HORSES BEATEN IN THIS RACE SO IT’S NICE TO HAVE ONE WIN FOR A CHANGE’

Douvan bolted up to justify considerable pre-race hype in 2015, with future Gold Cup winner Sizing John third.

It was the third year running that trainer Willie Mullins, jockey Ruby Walsh and owner Rich Ricci had won the Festival opener:

‘IT’S A DREAM COME TRUE...WE MUST BE VERY LUCKY OWNERS. RUBY’S A STAR, WILLIE’S A STAR, THE WHOLE TEAM’

Vautour collected the first of his three Festival wins in the 2014 Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

In command turning for home, the five-year-old took off up the hill to record a decisive success which surprised even Willie Mullins:

‘WE KNEW HE WAS A GOOD HORSE BUT I WASN’T QUITE EXPECTING THAT’

Champagne Fever, winner of the Champion Bumper in 2012, won what proved to be a vintage renewal of the Supreme in 2013.

It also featured the likes of 2014 Champion Hurdle winner Jezki, 2015 Champion Chase winner Dodging Bullets and future three-time Festival winner Cause Of Causes.

My Tent Or Yours (three-time Champion Hurdle runner-up subsequently) was favourite, and the pair jumped the final flight as one:

In 2012 Cinders And Ashes, trained by Donald McCain and ridden by Jason Maguire, won the Supreme despite flattening the final flight:

‘I PROBABLY GOT TO THE FRONT A BIT TOO SOON. HE PRICKED HIS EARS AND HE GOT IN A BIT TIGHT AT THE LAST’

Future superstars Sprinter Sacre and Cue Card both came up short in the 2011 Supreme.

Second to Cue Card in the Bumper 12 months earlier, Al Ferof didn’t look the most likely winner turning for home under Ruby Walsh:

‘I SUPPOSE FROM A LONG WAY OUT I DIDN’T THINK I’D WIN BUT HE WAS JUMPING SUPER’

The Phillip Hobbs trained Menorah edged out Get Me Out Of Here in a thrilling finish to the 2010 Supreme Novices' Hurdle, with the odds-on favourite Dunguib third:

Go Native, ridden by Paul Carberry, held on by a neck from Medermit in 2009 - a second Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner for trainer Noel Meade (after Sausalito Bay in 2000):

Captain Cee Bee 2008

Ebaziyan 2007

In 2006 Noland came with an incredible late drive with Ruby Walsh to deny Straw Bear:

Arcalis 2005

Brave Inca's clash with War Of Attrition in 2004 was one of the great Supreme battles.

Brave Inca went on to win the Champion Hurdle in 2006 and War Of Attrition the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same year.

Another future Gold Cup winner, Kicking King, finished runner-up to Back In Front in 2003.

He spreadeagled the field to give his trainer Edward O'Grady an 18th Festival success - 25 years after his Golden Cygnet did the same:

‘I KNEW BACK IN FRONT WAS GOOD, BUT I HADN’T EXPECTED HIM TO DECIMATE THE FIELD LIKE THAT’

In 2002 the JP McManus-owned super mare Like-A-Butterfly, ridden by Charlie Swan, was an Irish banker at 7/4 in a huge field of 28.

She won by a neck from Westender, under Tony McCoy, but many were left feeling that the Willie Mullins trained Adamant Approach would have won had he not fallen at the last:

While in 2000, the future three-time Gold Cup winner Best Mate couldn't reel in Sausalito Bay with a late charge under the stands' rail:

PREVIOUS WINNERS

YEAR
WINNER
JOCKEY / TRAINER
SP
1999
Hors La Loi III
Tony McCoy / Martin Pipe
9/2
1998
French Ballerina
Graham Bradley / Pat Flynn
10/1
1997
Shadow Leader
Jamie Osborne / Charles Egerton
5/1
1996
Indefence
Warren Marston / Jenny Pitman
25/1
1995
Tourist Attraction
Mark Dwyer / Willie Mullins
25/1
1994
Arctic Kinsman
Carl Llewellyn / Nigel Twiston-Davies
50/1
1993
Montelado
Charlie Swan / Pat Flynn
5/1
1992
Flown
Jamie Osborne / Nicky Henderson
13/2
1991
Destriero
Pat McWilliams / Andy Geraghty
6/1
1990
Forest Sun
Jimmy Frost / Toby Balding
7/4f
1989
Sondrio
Jonothan Lower / Martin Pipe
25/1
1988
Vagador
Mark Perrett / Guy Harwood
4/1f
1987
Tartan Tailor
Phil Tuck / Gordon Richards
14/1
1986
River Ceiriog
Steve Smith Eccles / Nicky Henderson
40/1
1985
Harry Hastings
Chris Grant / John Wilson
14/1
1984
Browne's Gazette
Dermot Browne / Michael Dickinson
11/2
1983
Buck House
Tommy Carmody / Mouse Morris
8/1
1982
Miller Hill
Tom Morgan / Dessie Hughes
20/1
1981
Hartstown
Niall Madden / Mick O'Toole
2/1f
1980
Slaney Idol
Tommy Carmody / Liam Browne
9/1
1979
Stranfield
Tommy Kinane / Des McDonogh
16/1
1978
Golden Cygnet
Niall Madden / Edward O'Grady
4/5f
Supreme Novices' Hurdle winners prior to 2000

The race was originally called the Gloucestershire Hurdle and from 1946-1971 was split into more than one division - won by the likes of Flyingbolt (1964), L’Escargot (1968) & Bula (1970).

Renamed the Lloyds Bank Champion Novices' Hurdle in 1974, it became the Supreme Novices' Hurdle when Waterford Crystal took over sponsorship of the race in 1978.

In 1999 Hor La Loi III, ridden by Tony McCoy, was the first four-year-old winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle since 1973 and went on to win the 2002 Champion Hurdle.

The ultra-classy French Ballerina, ridden by Graham Bradley, beat no fewer than 29 rivals in the 1998 renewal.

The versatile Pat Flynn-trained mare had already won three listed races on the flat, but tragically broke down in that summer’s Ascot Gold Cup and could not be saved.

Shadow Leader 1997

Indefence 1996

The 1995 Supreme Novices' Hurdle was also notable, with Tourist Attraction giving Willie Mullins his first win as a trainer at the Festival.

He had previously ridden two Cheltenham Festival winners as a jockey.

Carl Llewellyn rode Arctic Kinsman to a comfortable eight-length victory in 1994.

At 50/1 he remains the longest ever priced winner of the Supreme Novices', although his trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies was not surprised:

‘HE IS MUCH BETTER ON A GALLOPING TRACK AND WAS NOT HERE JUST FOR FUN. I KNEW HE HAD A GOOD CHANCE BECAUSE HE STAYS’

The 1993 winner, Montelado, is the only horse to have won consecutive Festival races, having won the Champion Bumper in 1992, the last race of that year’s meeting.

Flown 1992

Destriero 1991

Forest Sun 1990

Sondrio 1989

Vagador 1988

Tartan Tailor 1987

River Ceiriog 1986

Harry Hastings 1985

Browne's Gazette 1984

Buck House 1983

Miller Hill 1982

Hartstown 1981

Slaney Idol 1980

The ill-fated Golden Cygnet won by 15 lengths in 1978, the year the race was first called the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

He ended the season with a Timeform rating of 176 - which remained their highest rating for a novice hurdler until the 2022 Supreme winner Constitution Hill (177).

Described by the great Vincent O'Brien as 'the best hurdler I've ever seen', he was leading on the bridle entering the straight under amateur jockey Niall 'Boots' Madden.

He then strolled majestically up the hill leaving Fred Rimmell, trainer of the runner-up Western Rose, astounded:

‘NEVER HAVE I SEEN A HORSE WIN AT THE FESTIVAL MEETING SO EASILY’
L'Escargot won a division of the Gloucestershire Hurdle (now the Supreme) in 1968 and is thus the only horse to win this race and the Gold Cup (1970 & 71). He also won the Grand National in 1975.