Coral Cup Hurdle

The Coral Cup Hurdle is a Premier Handicap that is scheduled to take place as the third race on the second day at the Cheltenham Festival. The race was first established in 1993 and has had UK bookmaker Coral as its name sponsor for its entire existence. Last year’s winner, Langer Dan, was the first horse to win the race on more than one occasion.

Coral Cup Hurdle Overview

The Coral Cup is a premier handicap hurdle for horses aged four years or older run over 2 miles and 5 furlongs of the old course. There are ten hurdles to be jumped during the race. It is run on the Wednesday of the meeting normally as the third race on the card with the winner likely to pick up £61,000 in first-place prize money.

Coral Cup Hurdle Betting Trends and Statistics

• Previous course experience seems useful with 12 of the past 16 winners having trialled for this race here.
• French breds have a good record in the race with 11 of the past 24 renewals going their way.
• This is a tough race to find the winner and there has been just one winning favourite in the past 21 years with big-priced winners aplenty including 33/1 (twice) and 50-1.
• Younger horses tend to do best with 20 of the winners this century aged seven or younger.
• Nicky Henderson (4) and Gordon Elliot (3) have the best recent record, and their runners need plenty of respect whilst Willie Mullins broke a poor losing run in the race last year when winning with Jimmy Du Seuil.
• Horses towards the top of the handicap have a good record with 12 of the past 18 winners in the top 8 of the handicap.

Coral Cup Hurdle History

The race was first run in 1993 and has been sponsored by Coral since the first running. There is always a near-maximum field which inevitably leads to an exciting finish. This race has been the subject of many gambles over the years, not always coming off. Though some notable ones are Olympian (1993), Top Cees (1998), Xenophon (2003), Carlito Brigante (2011) and Langer Dan (2023 & 2024).

Coral Cup Hurdle Winners