Long Walk Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, a prestigious 3m½f Grade 1 hurdle race. Uncover key trends, past winners, top trainers, and jockeys to help predict the next champion in this exciting National Hunt event.
Long Walk 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.

2025 Long Walk Hurdle Preview

Scheduled to take place in December of each year at the Ascot racecourse is the Long Walk Hurdle which is currently run under the name of the Marsh Hurdle.

The race is a Grade 1 hurdle that is open to novices, it is run over a distance of three miles and one furlong where there will be twelve hurdles to jump.

The winners and leading contenders tend to go on to run in the Stayers Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and in recent times Big Bucks, Thistlecrack and Paisley Park have all gone on to complete the double.

Long Walk Hurdle Information:

Our dedicated Ascot tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the Long Walk Hurdle but will also have predictions for each meeting at Ascot 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 Ascot Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Long Walk 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 2024 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 Long Walk Hurdle, the over-round has been 113%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £113 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2025 Long Walk 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 Walk Hurdle Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Long Walk Hurdle over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Unowhatimeanharry (5:54.30) in 2016
  2. My Way De Solzen (5:55.60) in 2005
  3. Lough Derg (5:57.30) in 2007

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 Long Walk Hurdle next time out then you would have backed a total of 8 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +3.91. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page to access the OLBG racing picks easily daily.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2012 renewal when Reve De Sivola from Nick Williams under the guidance of Richard Johnson, won in a time of 6:38.00, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Unowhatimeanharry, trained by Harry Fry and ridden by Barry Geraghty set the quickest time of 5:54.30 in the 2016 renewal.

What the expert says...
Ten of the last sixteen winners came here having run in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury last time out and five of those eleven did the double winning both races.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Long Walk Hurdle Past Winners

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

Race Notes: The 2022 renewal was initially abandoned due to a frozen track but was rescheduled to run at Kempton on Boxing Day.

YearHorseInfo
2024
6:06.84
Crambo (GB)
7yo 11-7 9/1
Jonathan Burke
Fergal O'Brien (GB)
2023
5:59.41
Crambo (GB)
6yo 11-7 5/1
Jonathan Burke
Fergal O'Brien (GB)
2022
6:13.85
Paisley Park (IRE)
10yo 11-7 9/2
Aidan Coleman
Emma Lavelle (GB)
2021
6:08.45
Champ (IRE)
9yo 11-7 4/1
Jonjo O'Neill Jr
Nicky Henderson (GB)
2020
6:15.93
Paisley Park (IRE)
8yo 11-7 9/4
Aidan Coleman
Emma Lavelle (GB)
2019
6:20.44
The Worlds End (IRE)
8yo 11-7 15/8F
A P Heskin
Tom George (GB)
2018
6:03.70
Paisley Park (IRE)
6yo 11-7 8/1
Aidan Coleman
Emma Lavelle (GB)
2017
6:02.90
Sam Spinner (GB)
5yo 11-7 9/2
Joe Colliver
Jedd O'Keeffe (GB)
2016
5:54.30
Unowhatimeanharry (GB)
8yo 11-7 6/5F
Barry Geraghty
Harry Fry (GB)
2015
6:05.30
Thistlecrack (GB)
7yo 11-7 2/1F
Tom Scudamore
Colin Tizzard (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 30 placings from 147 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 2 placings from 7 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 3 runners
  • GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Long Walk Hurdle Trainer Statistics

There are multiple leading trainers in the Long Walk Hurdle over the last 20 renewals with Paul Nicholls, Nick Williams and Emma Lavelle having all won the race three times. Paul Nicholls winners have been with Big Bucks (2009, 2010 & 2011). Nick Williams winners have been with Reve De Sivola (2012, 2013 & 2014). Emma Lavelle winners have been with Paisley Park (2018, 2020 & 2022). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Long Walk Hurdle are Nicky Henderson (2 wins) and Fergal O'Brien (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Long Walk Hurdle, Nigel Twiston-Davies has sent a total of 10 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Long Walk 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
Paul Nicholls18-3-8-14.05-1.44
Nick Williams9-3-5+7.25+4.82
Emma Lavelle5-3-5+12.75+9.11
Nicky Henderson16-2-6-7.00-1.50
Fergal O'Brien2-2-2+14.00+8.40
David Pipe10-1-4+5.00+12.50
Alan King7-1-3+6.00+3.83
Harry Fry3-1-2-0.80-0.63
Jedd O'Keeffe2-1-1+3.50+1.70
Tom George2-1-1+0.88-1.00

Long Walk Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Long Walk Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Jonathan Burke who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Crambo (2023 & 2024).

Here are some of the top Long Walk 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
Jonathan Burke4-2-2+12.00+6.40
Daryl Jacob5-1-3+2.50+2.31
Jonjo O'Neill Jr4-1-1+1.00-0.60
Joe Colliver2-1-1+3.50+1.70
Sam Twiston-Davies6-0-2-6.00-3.32
Harry Cobden4-0-1-4.00+0.50
Harry Skelton4-0-1-4.00-2.95
Nico de Boinville4-0-0-4.00-3.00
Tom Bellamy2-0-2-2.00+0.15
Caoilin Quinn2-0-0-2.00-2.00

Long Walk Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +12.93 is when runners had an FR-bred dam.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 2 career wins in Non-Handicap races, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-30.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Long Walk Hurdle is Newbury, there has been a total number of 10 winners of this race who ran at Newbury last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Haydock, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Haydock last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 147 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 11 runners.

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

  • Assessor (4 Wins)
  • Cadoudal (3 Wins)
  • Oscar (3 Wins)
  • Saddler Maker (2 Wins)
  • Sir Harry Lewis (2 Wins)

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Long Walk Hurdle, that stallion is Martaline who has failed to produce a winner from 6 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Lough Derg in 2007, winning for David Pipe at odds of 14/1 under the guidance of Tom Scudamore. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 8 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Long Walk Hurdle head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today.

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Long Walk Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners and Trends are at hand, Darren and James. 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.
James Banting

James Banting

Tipster Competition Assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.

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