Supreme Novices' HurdleSee All Odds

As the entries keep coming for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, this ante-post series from Steve Ryder will now be looking ahead to a specific race each week. 

 

In addition to these previews, Oddschecker Unlimited subscribers will also get exclusive analysis every week from Road to Cheltenham on the early entries, key races and form lines to follow – see this week’s article here – as well as an ante-post selection from Ginger Joe.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Preview

63 entries remain for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle with trainer Willie Mullins responsible for 22 of them. He is often the starting point for many when looking at this race with him training the winner of the contest for five of the last 12 renewals.

He has also had the likes of Tullyhill (11/4) and Mystical Power (100/30) beaten in it last year as well as Facile Vega (9/4) in 2023, Dysart Dynamo (9/4) in 2022 and Asterion Forlonge (9/4) in 2020 beaten at short odds so many will be looking to oppose Salvator Mundi at the top of the market. 

16 of the previous 19 winners of the race won last time out which is a trend that many will fit but one that works against the current favourite is that no horse has won in any type of headgear since Flown in 1992. 

Whether Salvator Mundi wears a hood in this is currently unknown (has worn it on all three of his starts for the stable) as he bids to go one better than Mystical Power who wore one for the first time in the race last year. 

Appreciate It in 2021 defied a few trends when winning this race and it will be interesting if any of this current crop prove good enough to do it this year. 

He became the first horse since 2012 to win this race having been beaten in the Champion Bumper, a feat that Romeo Coolio will have to overcome having finished 2nd in the race last year. He was also the only horse in the previous 16 renewals to not be aged five or six years old, a trend that the likes of Workahead (7) and Irancy (7) would all have to overcome. 

In 2022, Constitution Hill became the only winner since 2008 to win the race with less than three previous hurdle runs and with less than two months to go a few leading contenders will have to buck that trend. 

Workahead is likely to head straight to the race with only two runs over hurdles and it is likely that both Kiss Will and Kopek Des Bordes will only have one more run at the Dublin Racing Festival before running at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing festival will likely have a big effect on the prices for this race and although both Romeo Coolio and Salvator Mundi are very unlikely runners, it will allow another contender to join them in winning at least a Grade 2 novice hurdle prior to the race. 

11 of the previous 13 winners have achieved this and it is currently only Salvator Mundi and Romeo Coolio of the likely runners to have achieved this. (The New Lion and Potters Charm have both won a Grade 1 novice hurdle but are more likely to contest the Turners’ Novice Hurdle instead).    

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Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Tips

Henry de Bromhead won this race last season with Slade Steel and I am hoping that the trainer can repeat that victory this year with WORKAHEAD (best priced at 14/1).

The seven-year-old is extremely lightly raced having only made his stable debut in December having won his PTP in impressive style 678 days prior. 

He was beaten into 3rd by last year’s Champion Bumper winner Jasmin De Vaux and The Enabler (who won on his next start) on his hurdling debut at Navan where he was entitled to get tired late on having made a slight mistake at the final hurdle. 

Under a change of tactics last time at Leopardstown, Workahead jumped beautifully when making all in a strong maiden hurdle where he beat William Munny by seven lengths with the Grade 1 Punchestown bumper winner Redemption Day back in fourth beaten over 25 lengths. 

Connections have decided to come straight to this race despite a lack of experience which can be seen as a positive and in a weak looking renewal, I will be disappointed if he isn’t involved in the finish. 

Ante-Post Verdict - Workahead 14/1 (0.5pt ew)

Workahead
Supreme Novices Hurdle
0.5pts E/W
13/1