Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle

Date	Time	Class	Distance
Tue 12th March 2024	13:30	Grade 1	2 miles

The Supreme Novices Hurdle is the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival. It is famous for generating the famous ‘Cheltenham roar’ as the runners set off on this championship race for 2 mile novice hurdlers.

2024 Supreme Novices Hurdle Preview

The Supreme Novices Hurdle has produced a strong favourite this year, with Tullyhill heading into the race trading at under 4/1 at most bookies. His support has been generated by two consecutive wins this season.

Tullyhill is anything but a value bet, and you can expect his price to drop further as the race approaches and punters pile in on the favourite.

Mystical Power offers far better value than the favourite. With three wins from three career races, including a win in the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Hurdle in his last race, Mystical Power offers real value if you can back him each-way at odds over 4/1.

Results

2024 Supreme Novices Hurdle Tips & Analysis

A look at the top tipsters in the UK brings up a mixed bag, with two tipsters getting behind the strong favourite for this race while Jeffrey Ross stands out with his support for Favour and Fortune at 33/1.

Adrian Wall, who is the form tipster amongst the selection above at the moment, has backed Mystical Power at 7/2. Meanwhile both Garry Owen and The Punt are the tipsters banking on Tullyhill.

If you’re going to back Mystical Wall in this race then make sure you place your bet at Boylesports, who will give you money back if he finishes second to Tullyhill.

Otherwise your each-way options are Slade Steel and Favour and Fortune.

Bookmaker Offers

Odds Comparison

About the Supreme Novices Hurdle

The Supreme Novices Hurdle is the premier race for 4-year-old and above novice hurdlers in the UK. It is distinguished from the Cheltenham Festival’s Triumph Hurdle by being raced over a slightly shorter distance on the Old Course, and its allowance for older novices to compete in the race. 8 hurdles are jumped in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

As the race that gets the Cheltenham Festival underway, the Supreme Novices Hurdle attracts almost as much interest as the Festival’s feature races. It is also a target of some top quality National Hunt novices, which has resulted in the Supreme Novices Hurdle blooding a number of champions that have gone on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Thanks to its billing as the race that starts the Cheltenham Festival, a lot of money goes into the Supreme Novices Hurdle betting markets each year. This means prices will reflect the fact that bookies are going to defend their bottom line from favourites. The antepost favourite will usually start the race under-priced, with bets from less experienced punters keeping prices low.

While price should not influence your Supreme Novices Hurdle bets, there are a few key things to look out for when making a selection. If the winner of the season’s Deloitte Novices Hurdle makes an appearance, it should be taken seriously. And any winner of a Novices Hurdle last time out deserves a closer look, with the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Hurdle another useful testing ground.

So look for quality and form and don’t be swayed by prices – horses priced over 10/1 frequently win this race.

Recent Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer
2023	Marine Nationale	6	Michael O’Sullivan	Barry Connell
2022	Constitution Hill	5	Nico de Boinville	Nicky Henderson
2021	Appreciate It	7	Paul Townend	Willie Mullins
2020	Shishkin	6	Nico de Boinville	Nicky Henderson
2019	Klassical Dream	5	Ruby Walsh	Willie Mullins