Sharp Novices Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Showcase Meeting)

Updated: 654 Horse Racing

Explore the Sharp Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham's Showcase Meeting. This 2m½f race features past winners, trainer and jockey records, and key trends. Gain insights into this prestigious event for novice hurdlers at the Home of Jump Racing.

Sharp Novices Hurdle Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Showcase Meeting)
In this article: Preview
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.

2024 Sharp Novices Hurdle Preview

This Novices' Hurdle, registered as the Sharp Novices Hurdle is open to novices who are aged four or older and is run over a distance of two miles and half a furlong.

Under a restructuring in 2023, the race was removed from the November Meeting to now take place in October at the Showcase Meeting.

For sponsorship purposes, the race in 2024 will hold the title of 'Sky Bet Novices Hurdle'.

Sharp Novices Hurdle Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Cheltenham 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 Cheltenham Racecourse section for links to these.

How competitive is the Sharp Novices Hurdle market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 105%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 120%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Sharp Novices Hurdle, the over-round has been 112%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £112 which is bet.

Sharp Novices Hurdle Trends:

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 Sharp Novices Hurdle next time out then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -11.05. Before placing your bet on the 2024 Sharp Novices Hurdle see which other runners today are being backed on the racing predictions page.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Elixir De Nutz, trained by Colin Tizzard and ridden by Harry Cobden who set the fastest winning time in the Sharp Novices Hurdle, the runner won the race in a time of 3:51.20 when winning the race in 2018. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Paul Nicholls and jockey R Walsh with Dodging Bullets who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 4:27.00 in the 2012 renewal.

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

  1. Elixir De Nutz (3:51.20) in 2018
  2. Cue Card (3:56.40) in 2010
  3. Steps To Freedom (3:57.70) in 2011

Sharp Novices Hurdle Past Winners

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

YearHorseInfo
2023
3:58.30
Lookaway (IRE)
6yo 11-2 9/2
Jack Quinlan
Neil King (GB)
2022
4:00.04
Fennor Cross (IRE)
5yo 11-2 3/1
Simon Torrens
John C McConnell (IRE)
2021
3:59.96
I Like To Move It (GB)
4yo 11-3 4/6F
Sam Twiston-Davies
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)
2020
4:13.96
For Pleasure (IRE)
5yo 11-0 14/1
Harry Bannister
Alex Hales (GB)
2019
4:10.60
Hang In There (IRE)
5yo 11-0 6/1
Adam Wedge
Emma Lavelle (GB)
2018
3:51.20
Elixir De Nutz (FR)
4yo 11-0 5/1
Harry Cobden
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2017
4:07.40
Slate House (IRE)
5yo 11-0 5/2
Harry Cobden
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2016
4:06.60
Moon Racer (IRE)
7yo 11-4 9/4
Tom Scudamore
David Pipe (GB)
2015
4:07.50
Altior (IRE)
5yo 11-7 2/1F
Nico de Boinville
Nicky Henderson (GB)
2014
4:04.60
Vyta Du Roc (FR)
5yo 11-7 3/1
Barry Geraghty
Nicky Henderson (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 17 winners with an additional 24 placings from 108 runners
  • IRE: 3 winners with an additional 4 placings from 29 runners
  • CZE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
  • UAE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Sharp Novices Hurdle Trainer Statistics

There are multiple leading trainers in the Sharp Novices Hurdle over the last 20 renewals with Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and David Pipe having all won the race two times. Paul Nicholls winners have been with Imsingingtheblues (2007) and Dodging Bullets (2012). Nicky Henderson's winners have been with Vyta Du Roc (2014) and Altior (2015). David Pipe winners have been with The Liquidator (2013) and Moon Racer (2016).

Here are some of the top Sharp 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
Paul Nicholls14-2-5+3.25+0.36
Nicky Henderson8-2-4-1.00-1.17
David Pipe5-2-2+0.75-1.59
Nigel Twiston-Davies9-1-2-7.33-7.00
Philip Hobbs5-1-3+4.00+2.73
Alex Hales2-1-1+13.00+8.75
Henry De Bromhead2-1-1+1.50+0.50
Mrs John Harrington2-1-1+0.38-0.17
Charlie Mann1-1-1+16.00+9.60
Sheena West1-1-1+8.00+4.80

Sharp Novices Hurdle Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Sharp Novices Hurdle over the last 20 renewals is Harry Cobden who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Slate House (2017) and Elixir De Nutz (2018).

Here are some of the top Sharp 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
Harry Cobden5-2-2+4.50+1.69
Sam Twiston-Davies6-1-2-4.33-4.36
Harry Bannister1-1-1+14.00+8.75
Adam Wedge1-1-1+6.00+3.75
Jack Quinlan1-1-1+4.50+2.70
Simon Torrens1-1-1+3.00+1.80
Nico de Boinville1-1-1+2.00+1.25
Harry Skelton4-0-1-4.00-2.38
Gavin Sheehan3-0-3-3.00+1.77
Daryl Jacob2-0-1-2.00-0.05

Sharp Novices Hurdle Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +25.67 is when runners ran on Good ground when last winning. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran in a race worth £5,000 on debut, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-20.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Sharp Novices Hurdle is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 5 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 20 winners from a total of 132 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 7 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Sharp Novices Hurdle, that stallion is Sadlers Wells 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 Moon Over Miami in 2006, winning for Charlie Mann at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of Noel Fehily. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Remember to use the best racing tipsters along with the information on this page to find you a bet on the 2024 Sharp Novices Hurdle.

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Sharp Novices Hurdle Preview are at hand, Andy 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.

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.
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.

Other Principal races at Cheltenham Racecourse

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

Races in January (Festival Trials Day)

Races in January

Races in March (Cheltenham Festival)

Races in April

Races in October (Showcase Meeting)

Races in November (November Meeting)

Races in December (Christmas Meeting)

No Comments

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

Keep Reading

By using this site you confirm you are 18+ and consent to our use of cookies and processing of personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy
Got it!