Trends are often the best way to narrow down the field in Cheltenham's tricky handicaps, so we've looked at the most important trends for the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle over the last 10 years for you, and used them to find the best horses to follow right now for the 2025 running of the race to help you use your Cheltenham free bets at the best horse racing betting sites.

2025 Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle Trends

The last 10 winners:

• Carried at least 11st 1lb to victory
• Were rated between 135-145
• Had won 1-3 times over hurdles
• Had not won more than two handicap hurdles
• Last ran between 20-77 days ago
• Had finished first or second in at least one of their last three runs
• Were aged no older than 7 and generally 5 or 6

Nine of the last 10 winners:

• Had not run more than eight times over hurdles (exception Indefatigable had run 11 times)
• Had won or been placed in a hurdle race run over 2m4f or further (Galopin Des Champs had not run over further than 2m2f)
• Carried at least 11st 3lbs to victory (Killultagh Vic carried 11st 1lb)
• Had run in fewer than four handicap hurdles (Horses now need 5 runs to qualify for the race)

Key Trials in the Last 10 Years

Winners of this Cheltenham handicap hurdle come from all sorts of places, but the recent trend has been for the race to go to a decent novice, just short of Grade 1 class.

It therefore pays to keep an eye on Grade 3 and Grade 2 novices' hurdles, as well as paying attention to five and six-year-olds running in handicaps run over 2m3f or further, though last year's winner Better Days Ahead had finished fourth of five in his only Graded race and hadn't run in any handicap race prior.

Trainer Trends

• In the 16-year history of this contest, it’s a near 50-50 split between trainers based in Ireland and Britain, although six of the last eight have gone to Ireland.
• Willie Mullins has won the race four times, more than any other trainer, with Gordon Elliott (who worked for Martin Pipe earlier in his career) winning for a third time in 2024, and Paul Nicholls and Joseph O'Brien having all won it twice.
• Nicky Henderson has thrown a lot of darts at this race without success since winning the first running of the contest in 2009.

Jockey Trends

Because the race is for conditional riders, it is unlikely that any pilot will win it more than once. The last 10 winners were ridden by jockeys that had never previously ridden a Cheltenham Festival winner.

How Did the Trends do Last Year?

Better Days Ahead was highlighted on this page as a potential bigger-priced fancy a few weeks leading up to the race but went off at 5/1 and duly won for Gordon Elliott. Third home Quai De Bourbon looked a really good trends fit too.

Who Fits The Trends Best In 2025?

Like all Cheltenham Festival handicaps, this is tricky to predict with no obvious trials to look out for, so taking clues from the betting market, you can then narrow down from there. The obvious front-runner on the market is Willie Mullins' French raider Kopeck De Mee. However, he would have to buck a couple of big trends to triumph, the biggest being that he hasn't run since May last year. He has also never run further than 2m2f.

Gordon Elliott's Wodhooh fits many of the key trends, but has also raced longer ago than any of the last 10 winners and is more exposed than previous winners of the race. However, as the entry requirements for the race have changed, it increases the chances of victory for more exposed horses. One horse that fits all of the key criteria is Emmet Mullins' McLaurey and should be one to watch at a double-figure price at the time of writing.

Another bigger price fancy that fits every single piece of criteria is Elliott's Minella Sixo.

2024 Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle Result