Thursday, 24 January 2008

Champion Hurdle – Following the Trends

The entries for this year’s Champion Hurdle have now been published and here are a few of the trends to look out for when trying to pick this year’s winner:

* The record of the returning champion in the race (Sublimity) is P11PR2132.

* The record of the previous year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle winner (Ebaziyan) is F2035.

* The record of the previous years’ Triumph Hurdle winner (Katchit) is 070F6. The last 5 year old to win the race was See You Then in 1985, since when 73 five year olds have tried and failed.

* The record of the current AIG Europe Champion Hurdle winner (to be run this weekend) is 11104514.

* The record of the current Christmas Hurdle winner (Straw Bear) is 534532.

* The record of the current Boylesports Hurdle winner (Osana) is 9S1896.

* The last horse aged 10 or more to win was Sea Pigeon (Hardy Eustace is 11).

* The last ten winners have been aged between 6 and 9, and nine of those had won last time out.

* Nine out of the last ten winners had been a previous course winner at Cheltenham, and the same number had won a Grade 1 hurdle or a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at some point during their careers. 8 out of 10 had won a Grade 1 or Grade 2 hurdle in the same season as winning the Champion.

If you follow the trends, the first four home in this year’s Champion Hurdle may look something like this:

1st Harchibald
2nd Straw Bear
3rd Osana
4th Ebaziyan.

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