• 14/03/2023

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Betting Tips 

Our selections for the Supreme Novices’ hurdle tips can be found here, along with some other fantastic insights about this feature race from the Cheltenham Festival.

The Supreme Novices’ is the curtain-raiser to the 4-day event and delivers some thrilling action.

We will look at some of the history of this wonderful race and dig through some of the stats for this year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting tips.

We await the final declarations for the opening lineup for the Cheltenham Festival 2023. So who will follow in the footsteps of last year’s impressive winner, Constitution Hill, who won for the trainer/jockey combination of Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville?

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Tips – Overlooked Outsiders

The Supreme Novices’ is some spectacle – it is the first race of the Festival and never falls short on excitement.

As part of our Cheltenham Festival racing preview, our expert tipsters will be examining some of the overlooked outsiders in Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting tips.

Last year’s winner Constitution Hill was an short-priced favourite who smashed the field by 22 lengths, but we only have to go back to the 2017 edition to see a long-priced winner.

Labaik defied a 25/1 SP having drifted out to 28/1 in the market to win the 2017 Supreme Novices’.

While Supreme Novices Hurdle odds generally trend towards those near the head of the betting market, we will also be looking at some of those dark horse options.

A look at this year’s underdogs will be available closer to the race.

2023 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Runners + Odds – Tuesday 14th March 1:30

Horse/Form	Silks	Jockey/Trainer	Odds
Facile Vega 1-1115		J: Paul Townend T: Willie Mullins	2/1
Marine Nationale 1111		J: Michael O’Sullivan T: Barry Connell	4/1
Il Etait Temps 5-4121		J: Danny Mullins T: Willie Mullins	6/1
Tahmuras 21-111		J: Harry Cobden T: Paul Nicholls	10/1
High Definition 1U		J: J J Slevin T: Joseph Patrick O’Brien	10/1
Diverge 61		J: Patrick Mullins T: Willie Mullins	16/1
Inthepocket 1-112		J: Rachael Blackmore T: Henry De Bromhead	18/1
Doctor Bravo 1213		J: Davy Russell T: Gordon Elliott	20/1
Rare Edition 1-1112		J: Sam Twiston-Davies T: Charlie Longsdon	20/1
Dark Raven 11/13		J: Daryl Jacob T: Willie Mullins	25/1
Strong Leader 12111		J: Sean Bowen T: Olly Murphy	25/1
Fennor Cross 311		J: Simon Torrens T: John C McConnell	50/1
Palace Boy 162		J: Paddy Brennan T: Fergal O’Brien	250/1

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Naturally, there is an enormous appeal in the Supreme Novices’ hurdle betting. That is because it kicks off the entire Festival, and all punters like to get off to a winning start.

Facile Vega has been shortening in the ante-post Supreme Novices’ betting market for this year’s renewal. There are huge claims for him, and trainer Willie Mullins expects him to come in at a good weight. 

A winning performance in the Future Champion Novices’ Hurdle should put Facile Vega right in the thick of the Supreme Novices’ action. Having won the Champion Bumper at the Festival last year, Willie Mullins’ latest star is now 6/6 in rules races and plenty of punters will see him as a banker to kick off the Festival. 

Royal Bond Novice Hurdle winner Marine Nationale looks to be thriving and could launch a big Cheltenham debut. The Supreme Novices’ would be a natural target for him, having taken a big step forward with a Grade 1 success at Fairyhouse in December. 

For the Brits, Paul Nicholls’ Tahmuras made it 3/3 over hurdles with a dominant display in the Tolworth Hurdle in January, and he looks to be the pick of the British runners this year.

Our betting experts will examine the form and market prices for all runners heading to the 2023 Supreme Novices’ hurdle betting market at this year’s Festival. 

How to pick a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner

While we wait for the final list of runners heading into the 2023 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, it is an excellent time to get prepped by looking through some previous trends from the race. Even though it is one for the novices’ there are still many vital factors to size up when considering Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting.

Constitution Hill made it to the line first in last year’s edition as the 9/4 FAV. That’s four favourites to have won in the previous ten editions of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, with Appreciate It (2021 winner) the only one to win at an odds-on price. 

The biggest winner in the last 10 years was Labaik in 2017 – taking the race at 25/1. 

No winner in the previous 20 editions has won at bigger than 40/1 while all but one of the last twenty winners of the Supreme Novices’ had between two and four wins beforehand.

Last 10 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner odds

Year	Winner	Odds
2022	Constitution Hill	9/4
2021	Appreciate It	8/11
2020	Shishkin	6/1
2019	Klassical Dream	6/1
2018	Summerville Boy	9/1
2017	Labaik	25/1
2016	Altior	4/1
2015	Douvan	2/1
2014	Vautour	7/2
2013	Champagne Fever	5/1

Appreciate It is the only seven year old to win in the last ten renewals of the Supreme Novices’ with the rest of the nine being either five or six-year-olds at the time. 

Willie Mullins has been the leading trainer over the last 20 editions of this race. He has won it six times in that sequence and five times since 2013. The only other two trainers to win the race more than once in that period have been Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls.

Jockey Nico de Boinville is the only jockey to have won the race more than once in the last 20 editions, his successes coming with Altior in 2016, Shishkin in 2020 and Constitution Hill last year in 2022.

So while waiting for the declared runners for 2023, keep an eye out for our top Supreme novices hurdle tips.

All About The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle: Past and Present

The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is held on the Old Course at Prestbury Park and has its unique place as the opening race of the entire Cheltenham Festival.

The Grade 1 race distance is 2 miles and 1/2 furlong, and there are eight hurdles for the runners to navigate. It was formerly known as the Gloucestershire Hurdle, and it was run for the first time in 1946. Through 1971 the race was at least two Divisions because of the number of entries.

It settled down in 1972 into the one fixture that it is today and the current sponsor of the Supreme Novices’ is bookmaker Sky Bet. Jockey Ruby Walsh is the most successful jockey in the history of the race with six wins, while trainer Willie Mullins has seven wins under his belt.

How Do Horses Qualify For the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race?

Being a Grade 1, the Supreme Novices’ boasts only the elite novice hurdlers. The race is open to four-year-olds and above. As for the weights, 4-year-olds come in at 11st 0 lb, while anyone else enters the action at 11st 7lb. Fillies and mares do claim a 7lb allowance in the Supreme Novices’.

What is the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Prize Money in 2023?

2022 winner Constitution Hill walked away with the first prize of £76,593.60 in the Supreme Novices’. As for the rest of the purse from the famous race, that was shared out as follows: 2nd £29,249.10, 3rd £13,952.60, 4th £7,784.10, 5th £4,220.10. We await details of the 2023 purse.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Past Winners 

It is a race that a horse can win only once during its career because of the race’s novices’ status. But there have been Festival greats that have gotten off the mark in the Supreme Novices’ before going onto even bigger things.

Names like Vautour, Douvan and Altior roll off the tongue when thinking about some of the more recent winners of the fixture. 

Year	Horse	Jockey/Trainer	Odds
2022	Constitution Hill	J:Nico de Boinville T:Nicky Henderson	9/4
2021	Appreciate It	J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins	8/11f
2020	Shishkin	J:Nico de Boinville T:Nicky Henderson	6/1
2019	Klassical Dream	J:Ruby Walsh T:Willie Mullins	6/1
2018	Summerville Boy	J:Noel Fehily T:Tom George	9/1
2017	Labaik	J:Jack Kenedy T:Gordon Elliott	25/1
2016	Altior	J:Nico de Boinville T:Nicky Henderson	4/1
2015	Douvan	J:Ruby Walsh T:Willie Mullins	2/1f
2014	Vautour	J:Ruby Walsh T:Willie Mullins	7/2F
2013	Champagne Fever	J:Ruby Walsh T:Willie Mullins	5/1
2012	Cinders & Ashes	J:Jason Maguire T:Donald McCain	10/1
2011	Al Ferof	J:Ruby Walsh T:Paul Nicholls	10/1
2010	Menorah	J:Richard Johnson T:Phillip Hobbs	12/1

Other Races on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival

The Supreme Novices’ start the Cheltenham Festival, and therefore it’s the first race of Day 1. Here is the complete list of the other races to come on the opening day of action at Prestbury Park.

13:30 The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

14:10 The Arkle Challenge Trophy

14:50 The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase

15:30 The Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy

16:10 The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle

16:50 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race

17:30 The National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Steeple Chase