Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the Gold Castle Novices' Hurdle at Perth Racecourse, a challenging Listed race over 2m7f. Delve into past winners, top trainers, and jockeys while uncovering key trends that shape this exciting event during Scotland's renowned Perth Festival of racing.
Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

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.

2026 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Preview

Scheduled to take place in April of each year at the Perth racecourse is the Future Champions Novices Hurdle, this is a class 1 listed race that is currently known as the Gold Castle Novices’ Hurdle.

The race features on the opening day of the three-day Perth April meeting and is run over a trip of three miles, the meeting also features the Highland National.

Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Information:

Our dedicated Perth tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle but will also have predictions for each meeting at Perth throughout the season so be sure to head over there.

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2025
ALSO READ

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2025

How competitive is the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2018 when the race had an over-round of 105%. The race in 2025 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 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle, the over-round has been 111%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £111 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2026 Gold Castle Novices 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 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Gold Castle Novices Hurdle over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Up For Review (5:47.40) in 2016
  2. Giovinco (5:51.17) in 2023
  3. Gayebury (5:51.20) in 2017

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 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -7.29. Whilst we wait for the 2026 Gold Castle Novices 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 2007 renewal when Heres Johnny from Victor Dartnall under the guidance of Tom O'Brien, won in a time of 6:30.50, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Up For Review, trained by W P Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend set the quickest time of 5:47.40 in the 2016 renewal.

What the expert says...
Since 2007, six of the winners of this race came directly from the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle. The finishing positions of those before coming here read 70PP67, so you can see that those who finished down the field and came here are worth noting.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Past Winners

Here are the Gold Castle Novices 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 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2025
6:02.57
Kiss Will (FR)
5yo 11-2 5/1
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2024
6:19.05
Sounds Russian (IRE)
9yo 11-2 5/1
Brian Hughes
Ruth Jefferson (GB)
2023
5:51.17
Giovinco (IRE)
6yo 11-2 10/1
Stephen Mulqueen
Lucinda Russell (GB)
2022
6:01.98
Mahler Mission (IRE)
6yo 11-5 5/1
Tom Scudamore
John C McConnell (IRE)
2021
5:55.95
Threeunderthrufive (IRE)
6yo 11-3 15/8
A P Heskin
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2019
5:53.30
Go Another One (IRE)
7yo 11-5 2/1F
Richard Johnson
John C McConnell (IRE)
2018
6:11.90
Calett Mad (FR)
6yo 11-0 8/11F
Daryl Jacob
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)
2017
5:51.20
Gayebury (GB)
7yo 11-8 3/1
Tom O'Brien
Evan Williams (GB)
2016
5:47.40
Up For Review (IRE)
7yo 11-6 5/1
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2015
6:12.60
Onenightinvienna (IRE)
6yo 11-3 11/10F
Tom O'Brien
Philip Hobbs (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle have been based:

  • GB: 14 winners with an additional 18 placings from 107 runners
  • IRE: 5 winners with an additional 1 placing from 17 runners
  • FR: 1 winner with an additional 1 placing from 2 runners

Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Victor Dartnall, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Heres Johnny (2007), Lodge Lane (2008) and Ambion Wood (2012). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle are Lucinda Russell (2 wins), W P Mullins (2 wins), Nicky Henderson (2 wins), Philip Hobbs (2 wins) and John C McConnell (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Gold Castle Novices 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
Victor Dartnall4-3-3+4.88+3.59
Lucinda Russell6-2-2+15.00+2.25
W P Mullins6-2-3+6.00+0.59
Nicky Henderson4-2-3+1.13-0.50
Philip Hobbs4-2-4+0.98+1.88
John C McConnell3-2-2+6.00+3.38
Paul Nicholls7-1-2-4.12-4.04
Nigel Twiston-Davies5-1-1-3.27-4.00
Gordon Elliott4-1-1+8.00+5.88
Ruth Jefferson1-1-1+5.00+3.13

Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Townend, who has won the race two times, with those two winners coming from Up For Review (2016) and Kiss Will (2025).

Here are some of the top Gold Castle Novices 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 Townend3-2-3+9.00+2.59
Brian Hughes8-1-4-2.00+0.07
Stephen Mulqueen2-1-1+9.00+5.25
Jack Doyle1-1-1+2.50+1.56
David Bass1-1-1+1.75+0.00
Harry Skelton4-0-1-4.00-1.90
Ryan Mania3-0-0-3.00-2.00
Sean Bowen3-0-0-3.00-3.00
Dougie Costello3-0-0-3.00-3.00
Sam Twiston-Davies3-0-0-3.00-3.00

Gold Castle Novices Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +49.88, is when runners had 2 wins in the past year.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 3 career places, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-15.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle is Cheltenham, there have been a total of 9 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with the Male runners having produced a total of 19 winners from a total of 117 runners, whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 9 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle:

  • Presenting (4 Wins)
  • Oscar (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Trisons Star in 2005, winning for Lucy Normile at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of Des Flavin. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 6 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2026 Gold Castle Novices Hurdle, head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters. If you are interested in other races at the Perth racecourse, then why not read our blog for the Highland National?

Route to the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle

Many trainers will target races to use as prep races before coming to the Gold Castle Novices Hurdle, these are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2025 - Kiss Will
Cheltenham - 7th of 11 (50/1)
Turners Novices Hurdle
2024 - Sounds Russian
Haydock - 5th of 6 (5/1)
Virgin Bet Rendlesham Hurdle
2023 - Giovinco
Carlisle - 1st of 5 (1/2)
Happy 60th Birthday Helen Butterworth Novices Hurdle
2022 - Mahler Mission
Cheltenham - 7th of 16 (66/1)
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
2021 - Threeunderthrufive
Cheltenham - 6th of 16 (11/1)
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
2019 - Go Another One
Thurles - 1st of 6 (6/1)
BetVictor Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle
2018 - Calett Mad
Cheltenham - PU of 20 (16/1)
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
2017 - Gayebury
Cheltenham - 18th of 24 (25/1)
Pertemps Network Final
2016 - Up For Review
Cheltenham - PU of 19 (12/1)
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
2015 - Onenightinvienna
Hexham - 1st of 8 (4/9)
Chollerford Novices Hurdle

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Gold Castle Novices 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

Darren Brett

Tipster Competition Manager

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

Content Editor

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.

No Comments

There are no comments here. Be the first to comment...

Please login or register to reply to this news article
KEEP READING
Burradon Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

Burradon Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

Dive into the Burradon Stakes at Newcastle Racecourse, a Listed mile race for three-year-olds. Explore past winners, trends, and insights into top-performing trainers and jockeys in this exciting event on the all-weather racing calendar.
Continue Reading
All-Weather Sprint Championships Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

All-Weather Sprint Championships Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

Analyze the speed, tactics, and trends behind past All-Weather Sprint Championships winners. Discover which strategies have repeatedly led to victory in one of Newcastle’s fastest and most thrilling races.
Continue Reading
All-Weather Mile Championships Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

All-Weather Mile Championships Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (AWC Finals Day)

Take a deep dive into the key stats and historical winners of the All-Weather Mile Championships. Learn which traits consistently shine through and how trends have shaped this testing race over the years.
Continue Reading