National Spirit Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

2025 National Spirit Hurdle Preview

The National Spirit Hurdle is scheduled to take place in February of each year at the Fontwell racecourse, it is a Grade 2 hurdle that is run over a trip of two miles and three furlongs in which a total of ten hurdles are to be jumped.

The race is open to runners aged four or older and is considered a trial for the Stayers Hurdle, My Way de Solzen won both races in 2006.

National Spirit Hurdle Information:

• National Spirit Hurdle Past Winners
• National Spirit Hurdle Trainer Statistics
• National Spirit Hurdle Jockey Statistics

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the Fontwell tips on the day of the race, do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist or are they predicting other runners?

How competitive is the National Spirit Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2011 when the race had an over-round of 107%. The race in 2004 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 119%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the National Spirit Hurdle, the over-round has been 112%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £112 which is bet.

National Spirit Hurdle Trends:

• 2025 National Spirit Hurdle Trends
• National Spirit Hurdle Trend Analysis

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 National Spirit Hurdle next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -8.17. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page so you can get easy access to the OLBG racing picks daily.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2011 renewal when Celestial Halo from Paul Nicholls under the guidance of Harry Skelton, won in a time of 5:23.30, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Starzaan, trained by Hughie Morrison and ridden by Timmy Murphy set the quickest time of 4:42.10 in the 2004 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run National Spirit Hurdle over the last 20 renewals:

1. Starzaan (4:42.10) in 2004
2. Brewinupastorm (4:42.53) in 2023
3. Botox Has (4:47.35) in 2022

National Spirit Hurdle Past Winners

Here are the National Spirit 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 trainer of the horse at the time of winning the National Spirit Hurdle as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Race Notes: The 2024 renewal was abandoned due to a waterlogged course.

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the National Spirit Hurdle have been based:

• GB: 19 winners with an additional 24 placings from 127 runners
• FR: 1 winner with an additional 1 placing from 2 runners
• IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

National Spirit Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the National Spirit Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Nicholls who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Celestial Halo (2011), Prospect Wells (2013) and Old Guard (2018). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the National Spirit Hurdle are Alan King (2 wins), Gary Moore (2 wins), David Pipe (2 wins) and Olly Murphy (2 wins).

Here are some of the top National Spirit 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):

National Spirit Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the National Spirit Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Aidan Coleman who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Brewinupastorm (2021 & 2023).

Here are some of the top National Spirit 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):

2025 National Spirit Hurdle Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 3, 7, 1, 1, 2, 1, UR, 4, 1, 3, 4, 2, 1, (3, 5), 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3

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 (80%) - Achieved an RPR of 133+ (Season)
• 20 / 20 (82%) - No bigger than 20/1
• 20 / 20 (82%) - Made 4 - 12 starts (1 Year)
• 20 / 20 (82%) - Achieved a TS of 92+ (Season)
• 20 / 20 (82%) - Off a break of 8 - 64 days
• 20 / 20 (83%) - Had 4 - 17 placings (Career)
• 20 / 20 (84%) - Highest Run is not G3/LST/Cl2-4
• 20 / 20 (85%) - Made 2 - 7 starts (Season)
• 20 / 20 (86%) - Made 8 - 43 starts (Career)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Carried 148 - 166lbs (Last Win)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Made 2 - 7 starts (180 Days)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Held an OR of 110+ (Season)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Made 1 - 5 starts (90 Days)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Ran over 1m7½f - 2m7½f (Last Win)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Within the first 6 of the market

Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Fontwell racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the National Spirit Hurdle. if you are unaware of what trends and statistics are, how they can be used etc then head over to the OLBG Betting School and read this Stats And Trends article which will make everything much clearer.

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 National Spirit Hurdle by adding a tip on the race here.

National Spirit Hurdle Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +30.01 is when runners had 1 career place in the class. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran in a Jumps (Chase) race last time out, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-19.

The course which has produced the most winners of the National Spirit Hurdle is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Sandown and Ascot, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 19 winners from a total of 121 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 National Spirit Hurdle:

• Apple Tree (2 Wins)
• Milan (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 National Spirit Hurdle, that stallion is Kahyasi who has failed to produce a winner from 5 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Botox Has in 2022, winning for Gary Moore at odds of 20/1 under the guidance of Joshua Moore. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 National Spirit Hurdle remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.