Supreme Novices Hurdle Race Card

Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle Runners & Entries 2023

Below you will find the runners & entries for the Supreme Novices Hurdle for this years Cheltenham Festival.

As a reminder, this is a full list of entires, but there are further declarations 5 days before the race, and final declarations 48 hours before.

Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) (GBB Race)

1st
Michael O'Sullivan

Marine Nationale

Age: 6
Weight: 11.5
OR: 150
J:
 
Michael O'Sullivan
T:
 
Barry Connell
travelled strongly, towards rear of midfield, headway on outer 3 out, shaken up and went second before last, edged left and led when bumped run-in, ridden inside final 110yds, won going away, readily
2nd
Paul Townend

Facile Vega

Age: 6
Weight: 11.5
OR: 155
J:
 
Paul Townend
T:
 
W P Mullins
midfield, smooth headway to lead before 2 out, pushed along when awkward on landing last, soon edged right and headed, kept on, no match for winner
3rd
Mr P W Mullins

Diverge

Age: 5
Weight: 11.5
OR: N/A
J:
 
Mr P W Mullins
T:
 
W P Mullins
took keen hold, held up in rear, headway on outer after 2 out, soon pushed along, not fluent last, soon went third, bumped but kept on final 110yds, no match for first two
4th
Rachael Blackmore

Inthepocket

Age: 6
Weight: 11.5
OR: 145
J:
 
Rachael Blackmore
T:
 
Henry De Bromhead
took keen hold, midfield on inner, not fluent 2nd, going easily when short of room before 2 out, ridden and headway on turn before last, edged right and bumped rival final 110yds, kept on

Supreme Novices Hurdle Tips

Sorry, no tips are available today!
Sorry, no tips are available today!

Opening race of Champions Day

The Supreme Novices Hurdle is the first race of the Cheltenham Festival. Because of this, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the race and it its traditionally met with the ‘Cheltenham Roar’, an echoing cheer from the crowd that signifies the start of the 4 day long festival.

The Supreme Novices Hurdle, formerly known as the ‘Gloucestershire Hurdle’, is run over a distance of around 2 miles and ½ Furlong. It’s only open to horses four years or older and features eight hurdles to be jumped throughout the race.

History of the Supreme Novices Hurdle

When the race was still named the Gloucestershire Hurdle it was split into two or three separate divisions meaning there could be more than one winner. Once such trainer who achieved great success in this race was Vincent O’Brien who managed to have an impressive 10 winners over an eight-year spell in the 50’s.

The race was renamed in 1974 to the Lloyds Bank Champion Hurdle after a sponsorship from the bank. The first time it was named the Supreme Novices Hurdle was in 1978 when it was sponsored by Waterford Crystal which continued throughout the 80’s until 1990.

The race is now currently Sponsored by the UK bookmaker Sky Bet. If you’re betting on the race, Sky Bet could be a good choice as they will more than likely doing some interesting offers and Price Boosts around the event and festival as a whole.

Recent years

In total there have been 40 winners since the race was renamed the Supreme Novices Hurdle. The most recent of which was Klassical Dream who made his way to the winners enclosure after comfortably pulling away from the competition in 2019. The horse was ridden and trained by the deadly duo of Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins, the pair have won the race together 4 out of the last 7 years.

Coincidently both Mullins and Walsh hold records in this race with 6 wins to their name each making them both leading trainer and jockey since 1972 when the race moved away from divisions. The horses they’ve won on include:

Ruby Walsh:

  • Noland (2006)
  • Al Ferof (2011)
  • Champagne Fever (2013)
  • Vautour (2014)
  • Douvan (2015)
  • Klassical Dream (2019)

Willie Mullins:

  • Tourist Attraction (1995)
  • Ebaziyan (2007)
  • Champagne Fever (2013)
  • Vautour (2014)
  • Douvan (2015)
  • Klassical Dream (2019)

A return from this pair at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival could be one to keep an eye out for in the opener.

Supreme Novices Hurdle Past Winners

Year Winner Age SP Trainer Jockey
2022 Constitution Hill 5 9/4 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville
2021 Appreciate It 7 8/11 Willie Mullins Paul Townend
2020 Shishkin 6 6/1 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville
2019 Klassical Dream 5 6/1 Willie Mullins Ruby Walsh
2018 Summerville Boy 6 9/1 Tom George Noel Fehily
2017 Labaik 6 25/1 Gordon Elliott Jack Kennedy
2016 Altior 6 4/1 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville
2015 Douvan 5 2/1 Willie Mullins Ruby Walsh
2014 Vautour 5 7/2 Willie Mullins Ruby Walsh
2013 Champagne Fever 6 5/1 Willie Mullins Ruby Walsh

Supreme Novice Hurdle FAQs

Finding Tips for the Supreme Novices Hurdle

If you’re looking for our thoughts on who you should back at the Supreme Novice Hurdle take a look at our Day 1 Tips page to see everything we’re backing for this opening race at the Cheltenham Festival.

You can also see all of the latest odds for this race on our Supreme Novice Hurdle Odds page allowing you to see which bookmakers are offering the best price on each horse in the race.