The Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle kicks off the action on day three at the Cheltenham Festival in 2025.
The race is one of the newest at the Festival, as it has only been staged since the meeting was expanded to 28 races in 2016. Fillies and mares aged four and older will compete over a distance of two miles and one furlong on the New Course in the Grade Two.
You can find the stats and trends to consider when assessing the leading contenders in 2025 here.
Age is an important factor to consider when assessing the runners in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. Every winner since its inception in 2016 has been aged either five or six, with each of the last five victors being the latter.
That included Golden Ace, who upset the odds for the Jeremy Scot team in 2024. That trend bodes well for the top market leaders- Maughreen and Sixandahalf.
Previous winning experience is a key factor in finding the most likely winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Six of the last nine winners have won on their final start before heading to Cheltenham, while eight victors over that period ran within the last 47 days.
Key prep races for the Festival contest include the Jane Seymour Novice Hurdle (Sandown), Solerina Mares Hurdle (Fairyhouse), and the Mares Handicap Hurdle (Leopardstown), which have all produced two winners apiece since 2016.
Previous experience around Cheltenham isn’t as essential in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle as it is with other races at the Festival.
Only two of the last nine winners have had a prior run at the home of jumps racing, while no winner since its inception has previously tasted victory around Cheltenham.
While Cheltenham experience isn’t important, previous runs over hurdles do count for a lot when assessing the contenders in the race. All nine winners of the race since its inception have made at least two previous runs over hurdles in the season in which they won the race.
Meanwhile, all but one of the victors since 2016 had winning experience over hurdles before heading to Cheltenham. Interestingly, five of the nine winners have also scored in Graded company, which could be worth considering.
Golden Ace became the lowest-rated winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2024 when winning off 124.
That is considerably lower than the average, as the trends indicate that five of the nine winners of the race have been rated 135 or higher. The highest rated victor in the race was Let’s Dance for Willie Mullins off 147 in 2017.
Willie Mullins-trained Maughreen is considerably short in the betting, but she could still have something to find on form based on the ratings with Sixandahalf.
The Gavin Cromwell-trained five-year-old made an instant impression over hurdles on debut, landing the Mares Hurdle at Fairyhouse by a commanding 12-length margin from the progressive Qualimita.
Sixandahalf was a proven performer on the flat, gaining an official rating of 94 last summer. Her jumping is sure to improve before Cheltenham, and at the prices, she looks to be the leading chance to upset the favourite in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2025.
