Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Scottish Cheltenham Trials)

The Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, held annually at Musselburgh during the Scottish Cheltenham Trials over a distance of 1m7½f, 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.
Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Scottish Cheltenham Trials)
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 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Preview

Scheduled to take place in February of each year at the Musselburgh racecourse is the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, a class 2 race that is run over a distance of one mile, seven and a half furlongs. The race is open to runners aged four or older with a total of nine hurdles faced during the race.

Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Musselburgh tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races at Musselburgh Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Scottish County Handicap 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 107%. The race in 2012 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 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, the over-round has been 117%, which means the bookie expects to pay out ÂŁ100 for every ÂŁ117 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Scottish County 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 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Trend Analysis.

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

  1. Diego Du Charmil (3:35.90) in 2017
  2. Clever Cookie (3:37.70) in 2014
  3. Retrieve (3:37.70) in 2015

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 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle next time out, then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -14.46. Before placing your bet on the 2027 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, see which other runners today are being backed on the racing predictions page.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 3:35.90 was set by Diego Du Charmil in 2017, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Harry Cobden, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2008 when Astarador won in a time of 4:06.80 for trainer Howard Johnson, who booked Richard Johnson in the saddle.

What the expert says...
Watch out for runners who ran at Musselburgh last time out; they have produced six of the last twelve winners, including three of the last four.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Past Winners

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

YearHorseInfo
2026
3:38.54
Star Of Guiting (IRE)
5yo 10-2 8/1
Sean Quinlan
Ewan Whillans (GB)
2025
3:40.49
Welsh Charger (IRE)
7yo 11-5 14/1
David Noonan
Alastair Ralph (GB)
2024
3:48.20
Afadil (FR)
5yo 10-8 100/30F
Freddie Gingell (5lbs)
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2023
3:41.10
Collingham (GER)
5yo 9-11 11/2
Charlie Maggs (10lbs)
Donald McCain (GB)
2022
3:45.43
Socialist Agenda (GB)
6yo 10-5 4/1
Adam Wedge
L J Morgan (GB)
2021
3:43.20
Christopher Wood (IRE)
6yo 11-2 11/4
Angus Cheleda (7lbs)
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2020
3:43.60
Sebastopol (IRE)
6yo 11-9 9/2
Jonathan Burke
Tom Lacey (GB)
2018
3:48.80
Dear Sire (FR)
6yo 11-11 15/2
William Kennedy
Donald McCain (GB)
2017
3:35.90
Diego Du Charmil (FR)
5yo 11-6 5/1
Harry Cobden (3lbs)
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2016
3:45.40
Shrewd (GB)
6yo 9-9 5/1
Shane Shortall (5lbs)
Iain Jardine (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 36 placings from 206 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 9 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 4 runners

Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Paul Nicholls, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Diego Du Charmil (2017), Christopher Wood (2021) and Afadil (2024). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle is Donald McCain (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Scottish County 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
Paul Nicholls11-3-6+3.08+1.50
Donald McCain15-2-4+0.00-2.59
Brian Ellison21-1-7-13.50-6.38
John Quinn6-1-3-0.50-0.69
Iain Jardine5-1-3+1.00+2.70
Nicky Henderson5-1-2+0.50-0.14
Tony Carroll3-1-1+3.00+1.13
Tom Lacey3-1-1+2.50+0.70
Alastair Ralph2-1-1+13.00+7.75
Richard Guest2-1-1+11.00+6.50

Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Jockey Statistics

There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle; Brian Hughes has ridden 18 runners in the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Scottish County 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
Sean Quinlan3-1-2+6.00+5.05
Jack Quinlan3-1-2+4.50+3.00
Charlie Maggs3-1-1+3.50+1.30
Angus Cheleda3-1-1+0.75-0.35
William Kennedy2-1-1+6.50+3.69
Jonathan Burke2-1-2+3.50+3.95
Freddie Gingell2-1-2+2.33+1.95
David Noonan1-1-1+14.00+8.75
Harry Cobden1-1-1+5.00+3.00
Adam Wedge1-1-1+4.00+2.50

Scottish County Handicap Hurdle Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +24.00, is when runners had 1 win in the past 180 days.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 career win in the class, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-41.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle is Musselburgh; there have been a total of 6 winners of this race who ran at Musselburgh last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 208 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 11 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Welsh Charger in 2025, winning for Alastair Ralph at odds of 14/1 under the guidance of David Noonan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 3 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2027 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Route to the Scottish County Handicap Hurdle

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

InfoLast Race
2026 - Star Of Guiting
Musselburgh - 1st of 9 (15/2)
Virgin Bet Supports Safe Gambling Handicap Hurdle
2025 - Welsh Charger
Newbury - 7th of 11 (10/1)
Coral Racing Club Join For Free Handicap Hurdle
2024 - Afadil
Musselburgh - 3rd of 7 (4/1)
tote.co.uk Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle
2023 - Collingham
Musselburgh - 2nd of 10 (10/1)
Fitzdares Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle
2022 - Socialist Agenda
Catterick - 1st of 5 (8/13)
#jumpingforjoy On Racing TV Novices Hurdle
2021 - Christopher Wood
Kempton - 2nd of 13 (11/1)
Watch Racing Free Online At Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle
2020 - Sebastopol
Huntingdon - 4th of 13 (6/4)
Integral UK Michaelmas Handicap Hurdle
2018 - Dear Sire
Musselburgh - F of 7 (9/2)
totepool Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle
2017 - Diego Du Charmil
Ascot - 12th of 19 (16/1)
Ascot Festive Handicap Hurdle
2016 - Shrewd
Musselburgh - 3rd of 9 (11/4)
Loganbet Brechin Big Layers On Football Bets Handicap 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 Scottish County 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 Musselburgh Racecourse

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

Races in February (Scottish Cheltenham Trials)

Races in April

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