2024 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Trends

If you struggling to find the write horse to back in The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on your horse racing betting sites at this year's Cheltenham Festival, Bookies.com is the right place for you. We have collated all of the data from the last 10 renewals to help you make the most out of your punts.

The last 10 winners:

• Had not won a Graded hurdle
• Had never run at Cheltenham before
• Did not run in a handicap last time out
• Did not run in a maiden hurdle last time out - 0/42
• Had run in no more than six hurdle races
• Had won no more than two hurdle races - only one was a maiden
• Did not carry topweight [racecard number one form reads: 00028F060P]

Nine of the last 10 winners:

• Last finished in the first two no more than two runs ago (exception Jazzy Matty won three runs ago)
• Had won a race that season but no more than two (exception Diego Du Charmil had won no races)

Eight of the last 10 winners:

• Had last run in the same year, with seven having last run fewer than 33 days ago. (Exceptions were Jeff Kidder and Diego Du Charmil, who last ran in December and November)

Key Trials in the last 10 years

• The Grade 2 Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle at Kempton has thrown out one winner (Flying Tiger) and no placed horse in the past 10 years.
• The Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown has thrown out one winner (Flaxen Flare) and two placed horses in the past 10 years. The higher-class juveniles that run in this race tend to head to the Triumph Hurdle instead.
• The Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon has thrown out two placed horses (Style De Garde and Divin Bere) in the past 10 years. Kabral Du Mathan beat Latin Verse this year.
• There's also a four-year-old hurdle at Fairyhouse early in January that Gordon Elliott likes to test Fred Winter winners in. Veneer Of Charm and Aramax placed there two runs before Cheltenham success. He ran Britzka in 2022, who finished last of 21 at Cheltenham, but Jazzy Matty was his runner in 2023, and though he didn’t win at Fairyhouse, he did win at Cheltenham. Elliott ran Ndaawi this year, with the son of Cracksman finishing third to Miss Manzor.

Trainer Trends

• Paul Nicholls is brilliant to follow here, having saddled three winners and eight placed horses from 25 runners in the past 11 years.
• Gordon Elliott has won three of the last six editions and four in all. Elliott also trained the third and fourth in 2020.
• Nicky Henderson is 0/9 in the past 11 years, but he has also saddled two placed horses during that period.
• Trainers based in Ireland have won the last six renewals.

Jockey Trends

Only Mark Walsh has won the race more than once in the last 10 years landing the 2020 and 2022 renewals.

How did the trends do last year?

Winner Jazzy Matty hit all the key trends, most importantly that he last ran in a novice hurdle, not a handicap or a maiden. This is crucial for ensuring just enough experience but not too much exposure to the handicapper. The one negative was his lack of recent good form. His two runs in 2023 had both been subpar, following a good win in December. However, one of those poor runs was in that key trial trainer Gordon Elliott has become very keen on.

Second Byker, beaten just a neck, also hit all the key trends and was a shade stronger, given he had won two runs ago and was third last time out. Third Risk Belle and fourth Sundial were ruled out of the win on trends because they last ran in a handicap.

Who Fits The Trends Best In 2024?

Following Jazzy Matty’s performance last year, stablemate Ndaawi has to be in the notebook, but trends urge caution as his last run was winning a maiden hurdle, and he is entered to run in a handicap. No winner in the last 10 years last ran in a maiden hurdle or a handicap.

Fairyhouse winner Miss Manzor is a much better trends fit, ticking all the boxes for Willie Mullins. Eagle Fang also stands out for trainer William Durkan, and Paul Nicholls could have a live chance with Huntingdon winner Kabral Du Mathan.

Normally a horse would need a minimum of three hurdle outings to be assessed by the handicapper, but after two runs and two wins, he has been given a generous rating of 122.

2024 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Odds