Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle

Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle Overview

The Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle is run at Aintree Racecourse, which is just outside of Liverpool. It is usually the second race on the opening day of a three-day meeting which features as its showpiece the Grand National.

It is a Grade 1 race and is run over an extended two miles on what is a flat turning track. The field jumps nine hurdles in total, and the prize money on offer is usually in and around £60,000 to the winner. The race is strictly only open to those horses who are aged four.

Horses that win this race tend to have a bright future ahead of them, with connections targeting bigger prizes now that their stars are proven at the highest of levels. Sir Gino, Defi Du Seuil and Apples Jade have used this race as a stepping stone to go on to record even more valuable successes in the future.

Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle Betting Trends and Statistics

• There are two leading trainers in the Boodles Anniversary 4YO Juvenile Hurdle over the most recent renewals with both Nicky Henderson and Alan King, who have both won the race four times each.
• Nicky Henderson’s winners have been with Binocular (2008), We Have A Dream (2018), Pentland Hills (2019) and Sir Gino (2024). Alan King’s winners have been with Katchit (2007), Walkon (2009), Grumeti (2012) and L’Unique (2013).
• Other trainers who have recorded more than one win in the Anniversary 4-YO Juvenile Hurdle are Paul Nicholls (3), Philip Hobbs (2) and Willie Mullins (2).
• There is one trainer who has endured a rotten bit of luck in the Boodles Anniversary 4-YO Juvenile Hurdle. Gary Moore has sent a total of 10 runners to this race previously without recording any wins.
• French bred horses have won 7 of the last 10 renewals of this race.

Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle History

The race has been known by a few other names in the past. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was mostly known as the Lancashire Hurdle and then in 1976, it became known as the Weetabix Hurdle. The word Anniversary was added in 1988, and in 2005, the race was upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1 status. The 2020 renewal was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is deemed to be the second most prestigious race for four-year-olds in the hurdling calendar, following on from the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival a few weeks earlier. Tony McCoy is the joint leading jockey in the race having tasted victory on three occasions on Zabadi (1996), Hors La Loi III (1999), and Binocular (2008). Robert Thornton is the other jockey with three wins to his name on Katchit (2007), Walkon (2009), and Grumeti (2012).