Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 Elite Hurdle Preview
Scheduled to take place in November of each year at the Wincanton racecourse, the Elite Hurdle is a Grade 2 race that is run over a trip of one mile and seven furlongs in which these runners aged four or older will face a total of eight hurdles.
Established in 1992 and originally staged at Cheltenham, it was moved to Wincanton in 1994 and between 1998 & 2017 the race was a limited handicap because of the differing types of races, please approach the trends with caution.
Elite Hurdle Information:
Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Wincanton tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet?
How competitive is the Elite Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2022 when the race had an over-round of 105%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 118%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Elite Hurdle, the over-round has been 112%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £112 which is bet.
Elite Hurdle Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Elite Hurdle next time out then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -11.89. Ahead of the 2025 Elite Hurdle why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
Over the last 20 renewals, it was Knappers Hill, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Harry Cobden who set the fastest winning time in the Elite Hurdle, the runner won the race in a time of 3:25.26 when winning the race in 2022. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Nicky Henderson and jockey Barry Geraghty with Chomba Womba who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 3:56.78 in the 2008 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Elite Hurdle over the last 20 renewals:
- Knappers Hill (3:25.26) in 2022
- Sceau Royal (3:25.30) in 2016
- Nearby (3:25.80) in 2010
Elite Hurdle Past Winners
Here are the Elite Hurdle past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Elite Hurdle are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 3:30.90 | Rubaud (FR) 6yo 11-8 11/10F | Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls (GB) |
| 2023 3:41.30 | Rubaud (FR) 5yo 11-8 1/2F | Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls (GB) |
| 2022 3:25.26 | Knappers Hill (IRE) 6yo 11-2 11/8F | Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls (GB) |
| 2021 3:29.50 | Sceau Royal (FR) 9yo 11-6 4/5F | Daryl Jacob Alan King (GB) |
| 2020 3:30.30 | Sceau Royal (FR) 8yo 11-0 4/5F | Daryl Jacob Alan King (GB) |
| 2019 3:36.70 | Fusil Raffles (FR) 4yo 11-3 4/7F | Daryl Jacob Nicky Henderson (GB) |
| 2018 3:31.70 | Verdana Blue (IRE) 6yo 10-11 5/2 | Jeremiah McGrath Nicky Henderson (GB) |
| 2017 3:49.20 | London Prize (GB) 6yo 10-9 4/1 | Tom O'Brien Ian Williams (GB) |
| 2016 3:25.30 | Sceau Royal (FR) 4yo 11-10 4/6F | Daryl Jacob Alan King (GB) |
| 2015 3:38.20 | Irving (GB) 7yo 11-10 9/2 | Nick Scholfield Paul Nicholls (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Elite Hurdle have been based:
- GB: 20 winners with an additional 22 placings from 125 runners
- IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners
Elite Hurdle Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Elite Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Nicholls who has won the race seven times with those seven winners coming from Celestial Halo (2009 & 2011), Zarkandar (2012), Irving (2015), Knappers Hill (2022) and Rubaud (2023 & 2024). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Elite Hurdle are Alan King (3 wins), Nicky Henderson (3 wins) and John Quinn (2 wins).
Here are some of the top Elite 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):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Nicholls | 27-7-15 | -4.31 | -5.48 |
| Alan King | 9-3-3 | -3.73 | -3.58 |
| Nicky Henderson | 8-3-4 | +0.82 | -0.55 |
| John Quinn | 4-2-2 | +6.50 | +3.21 |
| Steve Gollings | 4-1-1 | +2.00 | +0.00 |
| Philip Hobbs | 3-1-1 | +3.50 | +1.30 |
| Jeremy Scott | 3-1-2 | +2.50 | +1.86 |
| Ian Williams | 1-1-1 | +4.00 | +2.50 |
| Dan Skelton | 4-0-2 | -4.00 | -0.30 |
| Harry Fry | 4-0-2 | -4.00 | -2.29 |
Elite Hurdle Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Elite Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Daryl Jacob who has won the race six times with those six winners coming from Celestial Halo (2011), Zarkandar (2012), Sceau Royal (2016, 2020 & 2021) and Fusil Raffles (2019). Other jockeys who have recorded multiple wins in the Elite Hurdle are Harry Cobden (3 wins), Nick Scholfield (2 wins) and Dougie Costello (2 wins).
Here are some of the top Elite 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):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daryl Jacob | 9-6-6 | +5.30 | +3.19 |
| Harry Cobden | 7-3-4 | -1.02 | -3.16 |
| Nick Scholfield | 5-2-4 | +6.00 | +8.29 |
| Dougie Costello | 4-2-2 | +6.50 | +3.21 |
| Jeremiah McGrath | 1-1-1 | +2.50 | +1.56 |
| Sam Twiston-Davies | 5-0-1 | -5.00 | -3.19 |
| Harry Skelton | 3-0-2 | -3.00 | -0.30 |
| Bryony Frost | 3-0-0 | -3.00 | -3.00 |
| Nico de Boinville | 2-0-1 | -2.00 | -1.19 |
| Thomas Garner | 1-0-1 | -1.00 | +0.38 |
2025 Elite Hurdle Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): (4, 9), 2, 3, 2, (1, 3), 9, F, 2, 2, F, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 1, (1, 2), 1, 1
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.
- 20 / 20 (64%) - Not in a Cl3-5 (Last Win)
- 20 / 20 (77%) - Had 4 - 13 placings (Hurdle)
- 20 / 20 (78%) - Achieved a TS of 111+ (Last 3)
- 20 / 20 (79%) - Achieved an RPR of 133+ (Last 3)
- 20 / 20 (79%) - Achieved a TS of 117+ (Last 5)
- 20 / 20 (79%) - No bigger than 16/1
- 20 / 20 (79%) - Break of 14 - 272 days (Last Place)
- 20 / 20 (80%) - Highest Won is not Cl3-4
- 20 / 20 (82%) - Had 4 - 23 placings (Further)
- 20 / 20 (83%) - No bigger than 50/1 (Career)
- 20 / 20 (85%) - Carried 135 - 165lbs (Last Win)
- 20 / 20 (87%) - Highest Placed is not Cl3-4
- 20 / 20 (88%) - Furthest Placed 2m½f - 2m5f
- 20 / 20 (88%) - Had 1 - 7 placings (1 Year)
- 20 / 20 (89%) - No bigger than 25/1 (Career Place)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Wincanton racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Elite Hurdle. If there is anything that you do not understand in this blog, please leave a comment or head over to the Horse Racing Terms and Abbreviations article which is available in the OLBG Betting School section.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Elite Hurdle by adding a tip on the race here.
Elite Hurdle Trend Analysis
✅ The trend factor which produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +14.32 is when runners had 1 season win.
❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran in a Class 3 when last winning, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-22.
The courses that have produced the most winners of the Elite Hurdle are Kempton and Aintree, there has been a total number of 4 winners from each of those courses.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 18 winners from a total of 123 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 6 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Elite Hurdle:
- Doctor Dino (3 Wins)
- Air Chief Marshal (2 Wins)
- Galileo (2 Wins)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Purple Bay in 2014, winning for John Ferguson at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of Mikey Ennis. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 8 winning favourites in the race. Remember to bookmark the best racing tipsters page so you can get easy access to the best OLBG racing tipsters.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Elite Hurdle Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.
Darren Brett
Tipster Competition Manager
Andy Powell
Content Editor
