Race 1 · Ladies' Day · Wednesday, 11 March 2026 · ~1:30pm
Ballymore Novices' Hurdle
Live betting odds comparison for the staying novice hurdle championship of Cheltenham Festival — 2m 5f · Grade 1 · Old Course
Live betting odds comparison for the staying novice hurdle championship of Cheltenham Festival — 2m 5f · Grade 1 · Old Course
Compare the latest odds from leading bookmakers for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle. Updated as we approach Ladies' Day on 11 March 2026.
Leading racing analysts, journalists and tipsters share their views on the opening race of Ladies' Day 2026.
Ruby Walsh
"I'd put Mighty Park in this instead of the Supreme. I like No Drama This End. He looked a fabulous specimen in the parade ring at Cheltenham. I could see him winning a Gold Cup down the line, but I'm not sure about this. King Rasko Grey could be a big runner if he went here. Talk The Talk would also be a massive runner here."
Tony Mullins
"Willie has a bunch of beautiful horses without having a real one so No Drama This End would look quite a good thing."
Johnny Dineen
"If Mighty Park doesn't run in this, I still think No Drama This End could be vulnerable and something will beat him."
Sportingnews.com
"Doctor Steinberg could be the forgotten runner in this highly competitive field. But the graded staying novice's stamina and patience could prove fruitful in the e/w market."
Racing Post
Nick Watts and James Hill are both backing Heads Up.
Betfair — Mark Milligan
Taking on No Drama This End with Ballyfad: "This one went down only narrowly to the high-class Talk The Talk at the DRF and shaped there as if a step up in trip will show him in an even better light."
TalkSPORT — Tom Lunn
Tips each-way value with King Rasko Grey: "Mullins approaches this festival in great form and this horse has only been seen twice over hurdles — a very close third at Leopardstown in the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle. Finishing just half a length behind Talk The Talk, he seems to be underestimated for the top trainer."
The Ballymore Novices' Hurdle is the staying counterpart to the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and tests a fundamentally different type of horse — one built for the two-and-a-half mile stamina test rather than the flat-out speed of the two-miler.
The extra half-mile compared to the Supreme radically changes the profile of the ideal winner. Ballymore horses are typically bigger, stronger types — often bred for National Hunt jumping rather than Flat speed — who benefit from the more searching test. Horses who looked likely to find two miles too sharp but who flourish over longer trips are the ideal Ballymore candidate.
Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have dominated this race as part of their near-total control of the novice hurdle scene at the Festival. The Irish dominance is particularly pronounced in the Ballymore because the staying novice hurdle programme in Ireland — with quality Grade 1 contests at Leopardstown and Punchestown — produces a consistently high standard of two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdler each season.
The Ballymore is often the race that reveals the future Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle horses of the next generation. Horses who win impressively over this trip as novices — demonstrating both class and the ability to see out the full distance up the Cheltenham hill — frequently develop into the best horses in the sport over the following two or three seasons.
Horses who have proved their stamina over two and a half miles or further in their prep races have the strongest profile. Look for winners of Grade 2 or Grade 1 novice hurdles over this sort of trip rather than horses dropping back from further.
The Grade 1 novice hurdles at Leopardstown over Christmas and at the Dublin Racing Festival are the primary Irish guides. The Martin Pipe Hurdle equivalent in Ireland at these meetings consistently produces Ballymore winners.
When a leading trainer switches a horse from the Supreme (2m ½f) entry to the Ballymore (2m 5f), it tells you the trainer has identified stamina as their horse's strength. These switches are among the most valuable betting signals ahead of Cheltenham.
The Ballymore market is often topped by a very short-priced favourite. The value often lies in the 8/1–16/1 range among horses who have shown a consistent level of form in staying novice hurdles but haven't received the market recognition of the Irish market leaders.