Wide Open Looking Champion Hurdle This Year
The Champion Hurdle is the feature race on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, and this year’s premier hurdles contest has an open-looking feel to it. Sir Gino had started the season as the warm favourite for the Championship race, but his injury on Trials Day has ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.
16 horses have an entry in the 2m contest at the Cheltenham Festival, and if the majority line up on day one, it could be one of the most competitive Championship races of the whole week.
The New Lion Has Stepped Up from Top Class Novice Form
With five wins from six starts over hurdles, The New Lion has an excellent record in his two seasons as a hurdler. After his latest win in the International Hurdle, those placing Cheltenham Festival bets on Dan Skelton’s runner can now get odds of 9/4.
The New Lion won the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2025, and immediately after that race, leading horse racing pundits had him in their Cheltenham predictions to win the 2026 Champion Hurdle.
The one blip on The New Lion’s record came at Newcastle earlier this season when he fell in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. Skelton will be hoping that was a rare error from his horse and that he can land the biggest success of his career so far in the Championship race in March.
Brighterdaysahead Puts Herself in the Mix Following Irish Champion Hurdle
Gordon Elliott has confirmed that the Champion Hurdle is the plan for his talented mare, Brighterdaysahead, following her victory in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
Brighterdaysahead defeated Lossiemouth in the race at Leopardstown in what proved to be a clash between the two leading mares in Ireland. Elliott’s runner stretched away from her rival in the closing stages of the race to score by just over three lengths.
The four-time Grade One winner finished fourth in the Champion Hurdle in 2025. In what will be her second shot at the prestigious race, she is bidding to become just the eighth mare in history to win the biggest hurdles contest in the sport.
Golden Ace Defenders Her Crown
Golden Ace caused a huge upset in the Champion Hurdle in 2025 when she won the race at odds of 25/1. Jeremy Scott’s mare will now be looking to defend her crown, something only two horses have done over the last 20 years.
After defeat at Wetherby on her opening start of the season, Golden Ace once again prevailed at the highest level in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. She won a strong renewal of the Newcastle feature, defeating Constitution Hill, The New Lion and Anzadam.
On her latest outing at Kempton, Golden Ace had to settle for the runner-up spot behind Sir Gino, in what was another respectable run. She heads back to Cheltenham with strong claims of proving last year’s major success was no fluke.
The final declarations for the Champion Hurdle will be revealed on Sunday, the 8th of March, and if all the leading hopefuls remain involved, it could be one of the best renewals in recent years.