2026 Mares Novice Hurdle Betting Odds at Cheltenham racecourse

2025 Mares' Novices' Hurdle Tips

It’s been four years since Willie Mullins last had a victory in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle although perhaps he will return to the winners’ enclosure in this opener on Day Three of the Cheltenham Festival. Maughreen obliged as the 4/11 favourite at Punchestown at the end of January, with this coming over a year after a previous success at the same course.

There’s not always a lot of form to chew over, with Sixandahalf trained by Gavin Cromwell and there was a success at Fairyhouse in the middle of January. On that occasion, the horse triumphed as a 2/1 shot against thirteen other runners, with this coming after a smart run at The Curragh in the Irish Cesarewitch.

Galileo Dame could end up being the first four-year-old to land a victory, with the 16/1 shot producing a fine performance when finishing second out of eight runners in a juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown. The fact that she was in Grade 1 company suggests that a big run could be on the cards here, with that coming after a solid showing in a three-year-old maiden hurdle.

There’s definitely an each-way chance for Karoline Banbou, with a victory having come recently at Fairyhouse. That was as the 4/9 favourite and came after a previous success at Naas where the horse finished second out of twenty runners. Jubilee Alpha and Kientzheim are other horses who boast decent credentials.

2024 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle Tips

The 2024 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle will feature a number of talented fillies including Brighterdaysahead, with the Gordon Elliott-trained runner having landed a spate of victories in her career to date. Her latest performance saw a victory achieved by nearly five lengths when sent off as the 2/1 favourite at Down Royal in November.

Dysart Enos has similar form coming into this encounter, with the horse most recently seen landing a victory at Cheltenham in the middle of December. The mare was able to oblige as the 5/6 favourite in a novices’ hurdle over two miles and one furlong, with previous victories coming at Huntingdon and Aintree which sets things up nicely.

Jade De Grugy could help Willie Mullins to yet another victory in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with the five-year-old having won at Leopardstown over the festive period. Sent off as the 5/4 favourite in the Savills Maiden Hurdle, there was a comfortable fifteen length win for the mare who took well to testing conditions.

Fun Fun Fun is another Willie Mullins-trained runner who has turned out at Thurles on a couple of occasions recently, with a second placed finish coming behind Birdie Or Bust despite being sent off as the 2/5 favourite. Previously to this, there was a victory out of thirteen runners although the horse was well down the order in the Champion Bumper at the last Festival.

2023 Mares' Novices' Hurdle Betting Tips

Nicky Henderson will be looking for winners at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival and Luccia is one of his strongest chances of success. The mare might be relatively lightly-raced although it has been four straight wins for a five-year-old who comfortably won a novices’ race at Exeter last month. Previously to this, there was an even money success at Newbury.

Ashroe Diamond runs for the esteemed Willie Mullins, with an impressive run in a mares’ novices’ hurdle at Fairyhouse over two miles and two furlongs laying down a marker, with the horse previously running impressively when finishing third behind Facile Vega and Il Etait Temps in a Champions Novices Hurdle at Leopardstown.

Night And Day will also go for Mullins in this race and the horse was a facile winner in a Maiden Hurdle at Clonmel back in January although we can’t glean a huge amount of information from that run. We can certainly get a better read on Lot Of Joy who comfortably won a Maiden Hurdle over two miles at Fairyhouse.

Previously to this, the horse narrowly lost by half a length in the Savills Maiden Hurdle and the horse was also second in the two mile maiden hurdle at Cork Racecourse. Magical Zoe could be an interesting contender and she was the surprise winner of a novice hurdle over two miles and one furlong at Down Royal.

2022 Mares Novice Hurdle Tips

Allegorie De Vassy is among the Cheltenham betting tips to win the sixth race on Day Three of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, with the five-year-old having won on her past two outings and there’s plenty of horse racing form to suggest we will see a big run from the Rich Ricci-owned runner here.

There have been two fairly impressive showings at Fairyhouse in 2022, with Mullins having acquired the horse from French connections and the first of these came over two miles, two-and-a-half furlongs. However, the win in the BetVictor Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle was more impressive at the end of January, with Sean O’Keefe steering the mare to a three-length victory.

Can Brandy Love Reverse the Form This Time?

Brandy Love was the other joint-favourite when it came to that race and Paul Townend elected to ride this six-year-old and the horse remains among the Cheltenham betting favourites this time around. In the middle of December, the horse claimed a victory in a Maiden Mares Hurdle at Naas racecourse and could be among the places here.

Naturally, there’s isn’t always lots of information available for the novice hurdlers and that certainly applies to Dinoblue who is third in the Cheltenham Festival betting. Perhaps the JP McManus-owned horse could be something special although it’s hard to judge on the evidence of just one outing.

The horse was sent off as the even money favourite to win the Kilsheelan Mares Maiden Hurdle and duly obliged by fifteen lengths under Mark Walsh. There are some more experienced runners in the field and that includes Glens of Antrim, who finally got a win under his belt with a recent victory.

The seven-year-old was sent off at short odds when claiming the spoils at Limerick, with the horse finishing well down the pecking order over two miles, with this outing likely to make her a decent each-way bet.

Shewearsitwell Favourite to Win 2021 Mares’ Hurdle

Shewearsitwell is owned by the Closutton Racing Club and the five-year-old has scored a hat-trick of victories up to date, with the mare scoring a win at Galway before claiming further wins at Sligo and Tipperary. These wins have been impressive enough but it will be a big step up when we see her line up in the 2021 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

The Joe Mac Novices’ Hurdle was an impressive enough win and Shewearsitwell won as the 11/8 favourite with Paul Townend on board, with the jockey likely to be booked to ride the horse in this race and she could well be the one to beat.

Gauloise Another Big Mullins Contender for Cheltenham

Gauloise is a French-bred horse who has been in Willie Mullins’ care for a couple of years and Kenneth Alexander’s horse has scored two victories at Thurles to suggest she could be a solid contender, with the runner sent off as the 4/5 favourite for the Mares’ Maiden Hurdle before another odds-on success on soft ground over two miles last time out.

Princess Zoe is trading at a similar price and plenty of punters will be confident about Anthony Mullins’ horse and the German-bred runner has a bag of experience after being schooled in her homeland before running a string of races in 2020.

Most recently, we saw Princess Zoe line up in the Prix Royal-Oak on 25 October 2020, with the bookies not taking any chances about what is likely to be the most experienced runner in the field.

The Mares’ Novices Hurdle has been in operation since 2016, with Limini winning the inaugural race, while Let’s Dance, Laurina and Eglantine Du Seuil are the other five-year-olds who have landed a victory.

The thing that binds these four horses is the fact that Willie Mullins trains these runners, with the Irish handler likely to have several entries in this Grade 2 encounter, with the hurdle race taking place over two miles.

However, it is trainer Henry De Bromhead who is likely to have the race favourite, with Minella Melody currently available at 3/1 and the horse has had an impressive string of races in the lead up to the Cheltenham Festival.

There have been three consecutive victories for the six-year-old who obliged at Cork, Punchestown and Fairyhouse, with Rachael Blackmore on board for two of these wins and she’s likely to take the ride on Day Three of the meeting.

Lamarckise is likely to represent the best chance of Willie Mullins landing this race for the fifth time on the spin, with little known about a five-year-old which is French-bred and shone at Limerick in January.

The bookies were taking no chances with the horse that day when chalking up 2/5 about the favourite, although this represents a much sterner test at the Festival and perhaps one horse worth observing is Floressa.

The Nicky Henderson-trained charge finished second in a race at Cheltenham back in April, although that was a National Hunt Flat encounter and she has since taken well to hurdles.

There were victories at Worcester and Newbury in the autumn before third place in a Grade 2 Mares’ Hurdle at Doncaster and there will be claims for this horse to make the frame.

Mullins’ second string could come in the form of Dolcita, with this horse running in the same colours as Laurina, with the horse finishing third to Minella Melody in that race at Fairyhouse.

Previously to this, there was a success at Tramore although the Mares Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham will represent a tougher assignment.