2023 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Trends

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 - 0/40
• 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: 00028F060]

Nine of the last 10 winners:

• Last finished in the first two no more than two runs ago

Eight of the last 10 winners:

• Had run in a race in 2023

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 horse 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. Perseus Way beat Samuel Spade 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. However, last year he ran Britzka, who finished last of 21 at Cheltenham. Even so, Jazzy Matty was his runner this year. The Willie Mullins-trained Blood Destiny won.

Trainer Trends

• Paul Nicholls is brilliant to follow here, having saddled three winners and eight placed horses from 24 runners in the past 10 years.
• Gordon Elliott has won two of the last five editions and three in all. Elliott also trained the third and fourth in 2020.
• Nick Williams is another to follow with one winner and a place from eight runners, giving his supporters a level-stakes profit of £26.00.
• Nicky Henderson is  0/9 in the past 10 years but he has also saddled two placed horses during that period.
• Trainers based in Ireland have won the last five renewals.

Jockey Trends

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

How did the trends do last year?

• Winner Brazil  was a perfect fit to the trends and continued an emerging trend of those towards the top of the weights landing the spoils.
• He was the third winner in four years to carry more than 11st 7lbs, with eight of the 11 winners before him carrying no more than 11st 1lb.
• Second Gaelic Warrior was a maiden, who had not run for 283 days, so was completely ruled out by the trends, while third Bell Ex One looked smart with two wins for leading trainer Paul Nicholls, but had not run for 154 days, which was off-putting.
• Fourth HMS Seahorse had last run in a maiden hurdle, which is a straight red card on Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle trends.

Check out latest Cheltenham ante post odds.
 

Who Fits The Trends Best In 2023?

With many of the best trials yet to come, Gala Marceau for trainer Willie Mullins is eye catching at the head of the betting and does hit all the trends so far.

Trainer Joseph O'Brien looks to have a decent shout with recent Fairyhouse second Common Practice, who fits nicely into the trends, while Gary Moore has Chatteris Fen winner Perseus Way and Gordon Elliott's Jazzy Matt looks intriguing.