Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

If you are a fan of horse racing trends, then this preview of the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle will be perfect for you! Not only do we look at the trends, but we look at past winners as well as trainer and jockey records for the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle, a race run over 3m½f at Haydock.
Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
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 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Preview

Scheduled to take place in May of each year at the Haydock racecourse is the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle. The race is over a distance of three miles, half a furlong, during which the runners face a total of twelve hurdles. It is open to runners aged four or older, with it currently holding a class two status.

Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Information:

Our dedicated Haydock tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle, but will also have predictions for each meeting at Haydock throughout the season, so be sure to head over there. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races at Haydock Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2015, when the race had an over-round of 113%. The race in 2013 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 134%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle, the over-round has been 124%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £124 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Long Distance Handicap 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 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Long Distance Handicap Hurdle races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Whataknight (5:28.90) in 2016
  2. Elzahann (5:29.70) in 2009
  3. Picture This (5:31.70) in 2010

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 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -3.67. Whilst we wait for the 2027 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 5:28.90 was set by Whataknight in 2016, trained by Harry Fry and ridden by Aidan Coleman, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2022 when Romeo Brown won in a time of 6:08.36 for trainer Sue Smith, who booked Thomas Willmott in the saddle.

What the expert says...
Cheltenham seems a good place for a prep run, since 2006, eleven winners of this ran at the Gloucestershire track last time out. That includes four of the last five winners.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Past Winners

Here are the Long Distance Handicap 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 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2026
6:05.17
Mattys Getaway (IRE)
7yo 10-11 7/1
Ciaran Gethings
Kim Bailey & Mat Nicholls (GB)
2025
5:57.46
Harbour Lake (IRE)
9yo 12-0 8/1
Tom Cannon
Alan King (GB)
2024
6:03.23
Zain Nights (GB)
5yo 10-10 4/1F
Gavin Sheehan
Lucy Wadham (GB)
2023
6:03.60
Willaston (IRE)
7yo 10-13 14/1
Jamie Hamilton
Mark Walford (GB)
2022
6:08.36
Romeo Brown (GB)
8yo 10-1 20/1
Thomas Willmott (3lbs)
Sue Smith (GB)
2021
6:07.30
Dell Arca (IRE)
12yo 10-5 11/1
Fergus Gillard (5lbs)
David Pipe (GB)
2019
5:32.30
Canyon City (GB)
6yo 10-0 15/2
Bryony Frost
Neil King (GB)
2018
5:40.10
Monbeg Theatre (IRE)
9yo 10-9 11/1
Page Fuller (5lbs)
Jamie Snowden (GB)
2017
5:35.80
Mias Storm (IRE)
7yo 10-2 10/1
Wayne Hutchinson
Alan King (GB)
2016
5:28.90
Whataknight (GB)
7yo 11-0 12/1
Aidan Coleman
Harry Fry (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle have been based:

  • GB: 19 winners with an additional 47 placings from 290 runners
  • FR: 1 winner with an additional 0 placings from 3 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 4 placings from 12 runners

Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is David Pipe, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Abragante (2007), Broadway Buffalo (2014) and Dell Arca (2021). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle are Philip Hobbs (2 wins), Alan King (2 wins) and Sue Smith (2 wins). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle. Nicky Henderson has sent a total of 20 runners to the race without recording any wins, whilst Nigel Twiston-Davies has sent out 10 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Long Distance Handicap 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
David Pipe23-3-8+3.00+4.12
Philip Hobbs16-2-8+8.00+10.50
Alan King11-2-4+9.00+6.38
Sue Smith4-2-2+26.00+15.30
Paul Nicholls12-1-2-5.00-5.25
Harry Fry5-1-1+8.00+3.50
Lucy Wadham5-1-2+0.00-0.50
Neil King3-1-1+5.50+2.50
Jamie Snowden2-1-1+10.00+5.88
Mark Walford1-1-1+14.00+8.75

Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Jockey Statistics

There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle; Sam Twiston-Davies has ridden 11 runners in the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Long Distance Handicap 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
Harry Skelton7-1-2+0.00-0.50
Brendan Powell4-1-2+3.50+2.56
Sean Quinlan3-1-2+6.00+7.43
Bryony Frost3-1-2+5.50+3.50
Gavin Sheehan3-1-1+2.00+0.50
Fergus Gillard2-1-1+10.00+5.60
Tom Cannon2-1-2+7.00+5.63
Ciaran Gethings2-1-1+6.00+3.38
Thomas Willmott1-1-1+20.00+12.50
Jamie Hamilton1-1-1+14.00+8.75

Long Distance Handicap Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +50.00, is when runners ran at Cheltenham last time out.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had recorded 1 career fall in over Jumps (Hurdle), when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-55.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Long Distance Handicap 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 3 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 18 winners from a total of 277 runners, while female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 28 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle:

  • Lomitas (2 Wins)
  • Saddlers Hall (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle despite multiple attempts:

  • Malinas (0 Wins from 8 runners)
  • Milan (0 Wins from 8 runners)
  • Fame And Glory (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Flemensfirth (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Romeo Brown in 2022, winning for Sue Smith at odds of 20/1 under the guidance of Thomas Willmott. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2027 Long Distance Handicap Hurdle, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Route to the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Long Distance Handicap Hurdle. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2026 - Mattys Getaway
Haydock - 2nd of 4 (9/4)
Watch Unibet Racing Postcast Novices Hurdle
2025 - Harbour Lake
Cheltenham - 2nd of 9 (19/2)
Safran Landing Systems Handicap Hurdle
2024 - Zain Nights
Cheltenham - 1st of 14 (9/2)
Safran Landing Systems Handicap Hurdle
2023 - Willaston
Cheltenham - 1st of 13 (33/1)
Kingston Stud Handicap Hurdle
2022 - Romeo Brown
Cheltenham - 3rd of 9 (15/2)
Kingston Stud Handicap Hurdle
2021 - Dell Arca
Newbury - 8th of 16 (20/1)
Betfair Weighed-In Podcast Weekly Handicap Hurdle
2019 - Canyon City
Aintree - 6th of 21 (50/1)
National Meeting 3m Handicap Hurdle
2018 - Monbeg Theatre
Cheltenham - 1st of 23 (20/1)
Safran Landing Systems Handicap Hurdle
2017 - Mias Storm
Doncaster - 1st of 16 (11/1)
grandnational2017.com Handicap Hurdle
2016 - Whataknight
Cheltenham - 4th of 8 (5/1)
Citipost Novices Hurdle

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 Long Distance Handicap 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 Haydock Racecourse

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

Races in January

Races in February

Races in May

Races in June

Races in July

Races in September

Races in November

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