Future Champions Novice Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Christmas Festival)

The Future Champions Novice Hurdle, held annually at Leopardstown during the Christmas Festival over a distance of 2m, is a race rich with history. In this preview, we uncover winning formulas by highlighting notable records and the key trends formed across past renewals.
Future Champions Novice Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Christmas 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.

2025 Future Champions Novice Hurdle Preview

This Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle is scheduled to take place in December of each year during the Christmas Festival at the Leopardstown racecourse. It is run over a trip of two miles in which there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is seen as a race where the Irish trainers send their runners out before going to Cheltenham.

Future Champions Novice Hurdle Information:

We also have a dedicated Leopardstown tips page that will cover this race as well as all of the other races on the day of the race. See which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are predicting to win this race and the others on the cards. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Races Covered during the Irish Christmas Festival section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Future Champions Novice Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 110%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 124%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle, the over-round has been 116%, which means the bookie expects to pay out ÂŁ100 for every ÂŁ116 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2025 Future Champions Novice 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 Future Champions Novice Hurdle Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Future Champions Novice Hurdle races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Romeo Coolio (3:50.90) in 2024
  2. Aramon (3:54.80) in 2018
  3. Cash And Go (3:55.00) 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 Future Champions Novice Hurdle next time out, then you would have backed a total of 5 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -5.72. Ahead of the 2025 Future Champions Novice Hurdle, why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 3:50.90 was set by Romeo Coolio in 2024, trained by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Sam Ewing, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2006 when De Valira won in a time of 4:21.80 for trainer M J P O'Brien, who booked A E Lynch in the saddle.

What the expert says...
The Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, since 2007, has produced over 50% of the winners of this race (10 from 18), and of those ten, only four did the double; however, all ten winners did finish in the first three of the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Future Champions Novice Hurdle Past Winners

Here are the Future Champions Novice 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 Future Champions Novice Hurdle are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2024
3:50.90
Romeo Coolio (GB)
5yo 11-12 7/4F
Sam Ewing
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2023
4:11.50
Caldwell Potter (FR)
5yo 11-12 6/1
Jack Kennedy
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2022
4:00.70
Facile Vega (IRE)
5yo 11-12 2/9F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2021
4:00.20
Mighty Potter (FR)
4yo 11-12 5/2
Jack Kennedy
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2020
4:07.10
Appreciate It (IRE)
6yo 11-12 7/4F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2019
3:55.70
Abacadabras (FR)
5yo 11-10 10/11F
Jack Kennedy
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2018
3:54.80
Aramon (GER)
5yo 11-10 6/1
R Walsh
W P Mullins (IRE)
2017
4:00.50
Whiskey Sour (IRE)
4yo 11-7 9/1
David Mullins
W P Mullins (IRE)
2016
3:55.40
Saturnas (FR)
5yo 11-10 9/2
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2015
4:08.40
Long Dog (GB)
5yo 11-10 9/4F
R Walsh
W P Mullins (IRE)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle have been based:

  • IRE: 20 winners with an additional 26 placings from 138 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

2024 Future Champions Novice Hurdle Replay


Future Champions Novice Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is W P Mullins, who has won the race seven times, with those seven winners coming from Hurricane Fly (2008), Long Dog (2015), Saturnas (2016), Whiskey Sour (2017), Aramon (2018), Appreciate It (2020) and Facile Vega (2022). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle are Gordon Elliott (4 wins) and Noel Meade (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Future Champions Novice 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 Mullins37-7-13-5.28-7.44
Gordon Elliott15-4-9+0.16+0.08
Noel Meade16-2-4+14.50+5.94
Henry De Bromhead8-1-3+4.00+3.48
Mrs John Harrington7-1-3-4.62-2.87
E J O'Grady5-1-2+1.50+0.04
M F Morris3-1-1+14.00+8.00
Oliver McKiernan1-1-1+20.00+12.00
Philip Fenton1-1-1+2.25+1.41
Joseph Patrick O'Brien5-0-2-5.00-0.40

Future Champions Novice Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Townend, who has won the race four times, with those four winners coming from Hurricane Fly (2008), Saturnas (2016), Appreciate It (2020) and Facile Vega (2022). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle is Jack Kennedy (3 wins).

Here are some of the top Future Champions Novice 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 Townend11-4-5+0.47-1.84
Jack Kennedy8-3-4+4.41+1.66
Danny Mullins4-1-2-0.75+0.04
Jonathan Burke1-1-1+11.00+6.88
Sam Ewing1-1-1+1.75+1.09
Mark Walsh7-0-0-7.00-6.00
Mr P W Mullins5-0-1-5.00-4.10
Sean Flanagan4-0-0-4.00-3.00
Keith Donoghue4-0-0-4.00-4.00
Rachael Blackmore3-0-1-3.00-0.90

Future Champions Novice Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +48.72, is when runners had 1 season win.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners carried 161lbs on debut, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-18.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle is Fairyhouse; there have been a total of 13 winners of this race who ran at Fairyhouse last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 131 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 8 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle:

  • Davidoff (2 Wins)
  • Jeremy (2 Wins)
  • Martaline (2 Wins)
  • Presenting (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Hollo Ladies in 2009, winning for Noel Meade at odds of 25/1 under the guidance of Davy Condon. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 7 winning favourites in the race. Remember to use the best racing tipsters along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Future Champions Novice Hurdle.

Route to the Future Champions Novice Hurdle

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Future Champions Novice Hurdle. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2024 - Romeo Coolio
Fairyhouse - 2nd of 8 (1/2)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle
2023 - Caldwell Potter
Navan - 1st of 25 (8/13)
Headfort Arms Hotel Maiden Hurdle
2022 - Facile Vega
Fairyhouse - 1st of 16 (1/9)
Fingal Ravens Raceday Maiden Hurdle
2021 - Mighty Potter
Fairyhouse - 3rd of 7 (5/1)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle
2020 - Appreciate It
Cork - 1st of 14 (1/12)
I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Maiden Hurdle
2019 - Abacadabras
Fairyhouse - 2nd of 9 (7/2)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle
2018 - Aramon
Fairyhouse - 3rd of 4 (4/1)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle
2017 - Whiskey Sour
Galway - 1st of 12 (7/4)
Guinness Handicap
2016 - Saturnas
Fairyhouse - 2nd of 7 (7/1)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle
2015 - Long Dog
Fairyhouse - 1st of 5 (1/2)
Royal Bond Novice Hurdle

Races Covered during the Irish Christmas Festival

Remember to head to the Leopardstown predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters support in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the Irish Christmas Festival, with links to each race blog as well as information for last year's winners.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Friday
Racing Post Novice Chase
Found A Fifty (IRE)
6yo - 16/5
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
Saturday
Paddy's Rewards Club Chase
Solness (FR)
6yo - 28/1
Joseph Patrick O'Brien
J J Slevin
Saturday
Future Champions Novice Hurdle
Romeo Coolio (GB)
5yo - 7/4
Gordon Elliott
Sam Ewing
Saturday
Paddy Power Chase
Perceval Legallois (FR)
7yo - 17/2
Gavin Cromwell
Mark Walsh
Sunday
Irish Christmas Hurdle
Home By The Lee (IRE)
9yo - 15/8
Joseph Patrick O'Brien
J J Slevin
Sunday
Savills Chase
Galopin Des Champs (FR)
8yo - 5/6
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
Monday
December Festival Hurdle
Brighterdaysahead (FR)
5yo - 5/2
Gordon Elliott
Sam Ewing

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 Future Champions Novice Hurdle Preview are Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips 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

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.

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