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.
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.