Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle

Currently scheduled as the penultimate race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – or Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, as the race is known for sponsorship purposes – is run over two miles on the Old Course at Prestbury Park. The race was established in 2005, when the Cheltenham Festival was extended to four days from three, and commemorates the legendary Fred Winter, who was a force majeure in the National Hunt world, as a jockey and as a trainer, in a career spanning five decades.

As the title suggests, the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle is a handicap race restricted to juvenile hurdlers or, in other words, those that have just turned four years of age, on the previous New Year’s Day. Nowadays classified as a ‘Premier Handicap’ by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the race has, like many others at the Cheltenham Festival, been dominated by Irish-trained horses.

Interestingly, while the overall score between Great Britain and Ireland is 10-10, the last seven winners were trained in Ireland. Four of them, Flaxen Flare (2013), Veneer Of Charm (2018), Aramax (2020) and Jazzy Matty (2023), were saddled by County Meath handler Gordon Elliott, who is the leading trainer. Punters may also like to note that Willie Mullins has never won the race and, in 20 runnings, just three favourites, including joint-favourites, have been victorious. Indeed, 13 of the 20 winners so far were sent off at double-figure odds.