Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Punchestown Festival)

See which trainers and jockeys have performed well in this fact-packed blog for the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle. This is a race that is hosted at Punchestown during the Punchestown Festival, with the race being run over a distance of 2m. See which trends the past winners of the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle have set for this year.
Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Punchestown Festival)
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2027 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Preview

One of the feature races on the final day of the festival at the Punchestown racecourse is the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle, as the title suggests, the race is open to four-year-olds only and is to determine the champion four-year-old! The race is run over a two-mile trip, with a total of nine hurdles jumped.

Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Punchestown tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? We cover all of the major races at the Punchestown Festival, and below you can find links to all of the races for each of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday.

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How competitive is the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2006, when the race had an over-round of 110%. The race in 2012 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 130%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle, the over-round has been 118%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £118 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Barizan (3:41.90) in 2010
  2. Punjabi (3:42.80) in 2007
  3. Grandouet (3:47.40) in 2011

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle next time out, then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -14.46. Whilst we wait for the 2027 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2015 renewal when Petite Parisienne from W P Mullins under the guidance of B J Cooper, won in a time of 4:09.30, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Barizan, trained by Evan Williams and ridden by Jason Maguire set the quickest time of 3:41.90 in the 2010 renewal.

What the expert says...
The Triumph Hurdle is usually a good guide for this race, 3 of the last 5 winners came from that race and since 2008, 9 winners. Only 2 of those 9 did the double; those were Vauban (2022) and Lossiemouth (2023).

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Past Winners

Here are the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the race year, the winning horse, and the horse's age & weight. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2026
3:57.10
Saratoga (IRE)
4yo 11-0 9/2
Mark Walsh
Padraig Roche (IRE)
2025
3:49.60
Lulamba (FR)
4yo 11-0 11/10F
James Bowen
Nicky Henderson (GB)
2024
4:05.70
Kargese (FR)
4yo 10-7 9/4F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2023
3:58.10
Lossiemouth (FR)
4yo 10-7 1/2F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2022
4:06.90
Vauban (FR)
4yo 11-0 4/11F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2021
3:50.00
Jeff Kidder (IRE)
4yo 11-2 22/1
Sean Flanagan
Noel Meade (IRE)
2019
3:51.90
Fusil Raffles (FR)
4yo 11-0 13/8F
Daryl Jacob
Nicky Henderson (GB)
2018
3:57.10
Saldier (FR)
4yo 11-0 10/1
Robbie Power
W P Mullins (IRE)
2017
3:53.40
Bapaume (FR)
4yo 11-0 2/1F
R Walsh
W P Mullins (IRE)
2016
3:59.80
Apples Jade (FR)
4yo 10-7 8/13F
B J Cooper
W P Mullins (IRE)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle have been based:

  • IRE: 15 winners with an additional 31 placings from 151 runners
  • GB: 5 winners with an additional 2 placings from 22 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners

2026 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Replay


Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is W P Mullins, who has won the race ten times, with those ten winners coming from Quatre Heures (2006), Diakali (2013), Abbyssial (2014), Petite Parisienne (2015), Apples Jade (2016), Bapaume (2017), Saldier (2018), Vauban (2022), Lossiemouth (2023) and Kargese (2024). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle is Nicky Henderson (4 wins). One trainer has not had the best of times in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle; Gordon Elliott has sent a total of 14 runners to the race without recording a win.

Here are some of the top Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
W P Mullins62-10-22-20.52-21.18
Nicky Henderson6-4-4+4.73+2.14
Noel Meade5-1-2+18.00+10.70
E J O'Grady3-1-2+0.50+3.30
Padraig Roche2-1-1+3.50+1.70
D K Weld2-1-1+3.00+1.40
Sabrina J Harty1-1-1+4.00+2.40
Evan Williams1-1-1+4.00+2.40
Gordon Elliott14-0-3-14.00-9.80
Alan King6-0-1-6.00-4.75

Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Townend, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Vauban (2022), Lossiemouth (2023) and Kargese (2024). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle; Danny Mullins has ridden 10 runners in the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Paul Townend15-3-8-8.89-4.29
Mark Walsh8-1-2-2.50-3.30
Sean Flanagan2-1-2+21.00+12.95
James Bowen1-1-1+1.10+0.66
Danny Mullins10-0-2-10.00-8.03
Jack Kennedy4-0-1-4.00-3.05
Brian Hayes4-0-0-4.00-4.00
Sean O'Keeffe3-0-0-3.00-3.00
J J Slevin2-0-1-2.00-1.00
Danny Gilligan2-0-0-2.00-2.00

Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +15.50, is when runners had 4 starts in the past 180 days.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 places in the past 90 days, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-49.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle is Cheltenham; there have been a total of 11 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Aintree; there have been a total of 5 winners of this race who ran at Aintree last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 16 winners from a total of 142 runners, while female runners have produced 4 winners from a total of 33 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle; that stallion is Galileo, who has failed to produce a winner from 5 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Jeff Kidder in 2021, winning for Noel Meade at odds of 22/1 under the guidance of Sean Flanagan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 10 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2027 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle, why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Route to the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2026 - Saratoga
Cheltenham - 1st of 22 (10/1)
Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
2025 - Lulamba
Cheltenham - 2nd of 17 (11/4)
Triumph Hurdle
2024 - Kargese
Aintree - 2nd of 5 (7/4)
Anniversary 4YO Juvenile Hurdle
2023 - Lossiemouth
Cheltenham - 1st of 15 (11/8)
Triumph Hurdle
2022 - Vauban
Cheltenham - 1st of 12 (6/4)
Triumph Hurdle
2021 - Jeff Kidder
Fairyhouse - 1st of 7 (5/1)
Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Juvenile Hurdle
2019 - Fusil Raffles
Kempton - 1st of 12 (4/1)
888Sport Take Em On Adonis Juvenile Hurdle
2018 - Saldier
Fairyhouse - 3rd of 7 (3/1)
BoyleSports Juvenile Hurdle
2017 - Bapaume
Cheltenham - 3rd of 15 (10/1)
Triumph Hurdle
2016 - Apples Jade
Aintree - 1st of 9 (3/1)
Anniversary 4YO Juvenile Hurdle

Schedule for Tuesday at the Punchestown Festival

The highlight on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival is the Grade 1 Champion Chase, which carries a purse of €300,000. There are also two other Grade 1 races on the card with the Champion Novice Hurdle and the Champion Novice Chase.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Killashee Hotel Handicap HurdleKalix Delabarriere (FR)
6yo - 10/1
W P Mullins
Sean Cleary-Farrell
Champion Novice HurdleEachtotheirown (IRE)
7yo - 16/1
Barry Connell
Sean Flanagan
Punchestown Champion Novice ChaseWestern Fold (IRE)
7yo - 18/1
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
Goffs Defender BumperAbbeyglen (FR)
4yo - 11/2
Martin Brassil
Mr J L Gleeson
Punchestown Champion ChaseIl Etait Temps (FR)
8yo - 8/11
W P Mullins
Paul Townend

Schedule for Wednesday at the Punchestown Festival

The Punchestown Gold Cup is the feature on day two of the festival. This Grade 1 is worth €300,000 and is one of three G1 races on the card, with the Channor Novice Hurdle and Champion I.N.H. Flat Race being the others.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Channor Group Novice HurdleLe Frimeur (FR)
5yo - 18/1
Harry Derham
J J Slevin
Champion INH Flat RaceWith Nolimit (FR)
5yo - 14/1
Gordon Elliott
Mr J M Halford
Punchestown Handicap ChaseNouvotic (FR)
7yo - 7/1
Henry De Bromhead
Darragh O'Keeffe
Punchestown Gold CupGaelic Warrior (GER)
8yo - 5/6
W P Mullins
Paul Townend

Schedule for Thursday at the Punchestown Festival

Two Grade 1 races feature on day three, the highlight of those two being the €300,000 Champion Stayers Hurdle, the other is the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Conway Piling Handicap HurdleBlue Mosque (IRE)
6yo - 6/1
Noel Meade
Donagh Meyler
Frontline Security Handicap ChaseCome Walk With Me (IRE)
7yo - 4/1
Edward Cawley
Donagh Meyler
Barberstown Castle Novice ChaseSalvator Mundi (FR)
6yo - 13/2
W P Mullins
Harry Cobden
Champion Stayers HurdleBob Olinger (IRE)
11yo - 4/1
Henry De Bromhead
Darragh O'Keeffe

Schedule for Friday at the Punchestown Festival

The Champion Hurdle is the feature on the Saturday; this Grade 1 is worth €300,000 and is one of two Grade 1s on the card, with the Champion Novice Hurdle being the other.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Punchestown Listed Novice Handicap ChaseFuniculi Funicula (FR)
6yo - 7/2
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
Punchestown Champion Novice HurdleKing Rasko Grey (FR)
6yo - 8/13
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
Punchestown Champion HurdleLossiemouth (FR)
7yo - 2/7
W P Mullins
Paul Townend

Schedule for Saturday at the Punchestown Festival

The final day of the Punchestown Festival sees a couple of Grade 1 races, which both carry purses of €125,000, and those are the Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle and the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Irish EBF Mares Champion HurdlePlace De La Nation (FR)
5yo - 10/1
W P Mullins
Danny Mullins
Champion Four-Year-Old HurdleSaratoga (IRE)
4yo - 9/2
Padraig Roche
Mark Walsh
Punchestown Listed Handicap HurdleHello Neighbour (IRE)
5yo - 12/1
Gavin Cromwell
Keith Donoghue

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle Preview are Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Expert Guide

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for jump racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful national hunt racing blogs for OLBG.

Other Principal Races at the Punchestown Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Punchestown racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in February

Races in November

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