Live betting odds for the three-mile hurdling championship of the world — 3m 80y · Grade 1 · Old Course · St. Patrick's Thursday Feature
Compare the latest odds for the Stayers' Hurdle. The championship of staying hurdling — updated regularly as St. Patrick's Thursday on 12 March 2026 approaches.
Leading racing analysts, journalists and tipsters share their views on the three-mile championship hurdle on St. Patrick's Thursday 2026.
Ruby Walsh
"I think Teahupoo will have to commit early and that will leave him a little bit vulnerable to something coming at him. I think Honesty Policy could mug him. Ma Shantou is a big runner as well."
Tony Mullins
"I can't see anything getting near Teahupoo."
Sportingnews.com
Teahupoo is an established Grade 1 class, relentless galloper proven at the top echelons. The famous Cheltenham hill should play to his stamina strengths. Now 9 years old — watch out for any younger stayers trying to dictate tempo.
Racing Post
Harry Wilson tips Teahupoo; Paul Kealy prefers Ma Shantou; Tom Segal and David Jennings both tip Bob Olinger.
Betfair — Alan Dudman
Hopeful of a run from French Ship: "He looked a rattling good horse winning a Newbury Handicap — there was a twinkle in that performance. He was going the best when he unseated late in the Rendlesham. What we do know is that while he entered uncharted territory at 3m, he was angled wide and going best."
Betfair — Mark Milligan
Back Bob Olinger to regain his crown: "His Festival record stands up to the closest scrutiny and he'll come into the Stayers' fresher than most. I'm expecting him to be much sharper than he was over Christmas at a track where he has such a fine record."
The Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle is the supreme test of staying hurdlers — a three-mile championship on the Old Course that demands the combination of jumping technique, stamina and the ability to produce a finishing effort after three exhausting miles of racing.
Previously known as the World Hurdle, the Stayers' Hurdle has been renamed but its status as the definitive three-mile hurdling championship has never been questioned. The race has been dominated by extraordinary staying hurdlers who have established near-dynasties over the trip — Big Buck's won four consecutive Stayers' Hurdles between 2009 and 2012, a record of sustained excellence over the staying hurdle trip that may never be surpassed.
The St. Patrick's Thursday setting gives the Stayers' Hurdle a unique atmosphere — the Irish crowd that descends on Cheltenham for the third day creates an extraordinary backdrop for one of the sport's greatest championship races. The finishing straight on the Old Course, as horses battle up the hill after three miles of intense racing, regularly produces one of the most emotionally charged moments of the entire Festival.
The race favours genuine stayers who are also blessed with enough class to maintain contact with quality hurdlers throughout the race before unleashing their superior stamina in the final stages. Horses who win the Stayers' Hurdle convincingly — as Big Buck's did on four occasions — invariably combine an extraordinary staying ability with a relentless jumping rhythm that no opponent can match over the full three-mile trip.
