The Stayers hurdle is the fourth race on St Patricks Day. It is a Grade One staying hurdle that is run on the new course at the Cheltenham.
The race is run over three miles and there is a total of 12 hurdles for the horses to contend with. The horses must be aged at least four to take part in the race.
The prize money on offer to the winner is £182,000, for the biggest long-distance hurdle race in the National hunt season.
The Stayers Hurdle goes all the way back to 1912, making it one of the oldest races of the festival. The first running at Prestbury Park was titled the Stayers Selling Hurdle, a far cry from the Grade One it is now. The winner was sold for £50 after the race.
The race struggled to hold down a regular position within the Cheltenham Festival, with it not run between 1928 and 1929 and then 1938 and 1939.
In 1946, it then replaced the Spa Hurdle, which was a two-mile race however retained the name until 1972, when it was renamed the Stayers Hurdle and was sponsored by Lloyds Bank.
The race since has had various sponsors. Waterford Crystal had a 12 year hold between 1978 and 1990 before they handed over to Bonusprint who named the race until 2004. When betting company Ladbrokes took over the sponsorship, they also renamed the race the World Hurdle however there sponsorship ended in 2015.
Ryanair sponsored the race in 2016 before in 2017 the race went back to being known as the Stayers Hurdle and was sponsored by Sun Bets. Last year was the first year the race was sponsored by Sun Racing.
Hot favourite Paisley Park was delivered brilliantly by Aidan Coleman to win the 2019 race in a famous victory and ended Willie Mullin’s mini dominance of the race having won it the two years prior.
However, prior to this, one horse dominated the race in the form of Big Bucks. The Paul Nicholls trained horse won four back to back renewals of the race between 2009 and 2012 and made the race his own. In doing so, he gave Paul Nicholls four victories that make him the most successful trainer in the race, with Ruby Walsh riding all four, meaning he is the most successful jockey to ride in the race.
Ruby Walsh:
Big Buck's (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Nichols Canyon (2017)
Paul Nicholls:
Big Buck's (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
The 2020 race will likely see 2019 winner Paisley Park return to defend his crown and attempt to join in greats by doing so and should he turn up, he will warrant his position at the top of the market.
As well as Paisley Park, Paul Nicholls’ record in the race shows he can prepare horses for this race whilst Willie Mullins has won two of the last three and deserves a close look too.
