The Champion Hurdle

The Champion Hurdle is traditionally the fourth race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. The Grade 1 race is run over two miles and 110 yards and is open to horses of four-years-old and up.

There are eight hurdles in total over the two miles and a prize purse of just under £400,000 is up for grabs. The Champion Hurdle is the biggest hurdle race in the National Hunt calendar and the biggest race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.

There is a weight cap for all horses in this race with a minimum of 11 stones and three pounds and a maximum of 11 stones and ten pounds. This provides a seven pound allowance for fillies and mares.

The Champion Hurdle is currently sponsored by online bookmaker Stan James. The online gambling company also sponsors the Road to Cheltenham series, which has been started to encourage interest in the race and its history.

History of the Champion Hurdle

The history of the Champion Hurdle dates back to 1927 when the first version of the race was run. A six-year-old horse called Blaris won the first race, jockeyed by George Duller and trained by Bill Payne.

The race has been held every year since 1927 other than 1931 (frost), 1943-44 (Second World War) and 2001 (foot and mouth crisis). The race grew in popularity from 1945 onwards when the Second World War finished, Britain started repairing damage to the country and sport leisure activities grew wealthier.

The Champion Hurdle is part of a hurdle series called the Road to Cheltenham. It is the final race in a series after the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, the International Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle Trail.

The point of this series is to enhance the reputation of British Hurdle racing around the country and Europe. Itís also designed to get more of the public interested in the history of the Cheltenham Festival and the history of the Champion Hurdle.

Champion Hurdle Records

There are many Champion Hurdle records that have grown in popularity and changed throughout the decades the race has been run. Five horses have won the race three times in its history; Hattonís Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq.

Tim Molony holds the current Champion Hurdle record for best jockey with four wins; Hattonís Grace and three times with Sir Ken.

There have only been two trainers in the history of the race that have trained five winning horses. The Champion Hurdle record trainers are Peter Easterby; Saucy Kit, Night Nurse (twice) and Sea Pigeon (twice) and Nicky Henderson; See You Then (three times), Punjabi and Binocular.

Sea Pigeon and Hattonís Grace are the oldest horses to have won this race, both at the age of 11-years-old.

Current Champion Hurdle Title Holders

The current Champion Hurdle title holder is a six-year-old horse called Binocular. Nicky Henderson holds the current trainer title and Tony McCoy jockeyed Binocular to victory in the race last year.