Vincent OBrien County Hurdle

by Darren Brett
A fast and furious battle for what used to be the closing race of the Festival until 2009. Some punters maybe put off by the large field but this race has been a good race for the backers in recent years with only one recent winner at large odds.

County Hurdle Trends

10/10	ran between four and sixteen times over hurdles
9/10	had run at least four times that season
9/10	had an official rating between 128-144
9/10	returned an SP no bigger than 20/1
9/10	carried 11st 1lb or less
8/10	last outing was within thirty-six days
7/10	were aged five or six
7/10	were making their first appearance at the Festival

County Hurdle Analysis

The last of our stats goes against the traditional view of one of the possible requirements of a Festival winner: previous form at a Festival.

Only Fontanesi, Silver Jaro and Thousand Stars had previously run at a Cheltenham Festival and all ran poorly so it would seem that for the purposes of the County Hurdle at least we are looking for horses coming into the environment for the first time.

County Hurdle Last Ten Winners

Table below shows the last ten winners of the race, their age and weight at the time of winning, trainer, jockey and odds (starting price).

Year	Horse	Age	Trainer	Jockey	Price
2013	Ted Veale	6-10-6	A J Martin	B Cooper	10/1
2012	Alderwood	8-11-1	T Mullins	AP McCoy	20/1
2011	Final Approach	5-10-12	W Mullins	R Walsh	10/1
2010	Thousand Stars	6-10-5	W Mullins	Ms K Walsh	20/1
2009	American Trilogy	5-11-0	P Nicholls	R Walsh	20/1
2008	Silver Jaro	5-10-13	T Hogan	N Fehily	50/1
2007	Pedrobob	9-10-0	T Mullins	Philip Carberry	12/1
2006	Desert Quest	6-10-10	P Nicholls	R Walsh	4/1JF
2005	Fontanesi	5-10-0	M Pipe	T Murphy	16/1
2004	Sporazene	5-10-13	P Nicholls	R Walsh	7/1F

County Hurdle Preview and Tips

For a trainer renowned for his three mile chasers it is a testament to Paul Nicholls that he has also been able to train three winners and two seconds in the County Hurdle in the last nine years.

At the SP's of 7/1, 4/1 and 20/1 his supporters in this race are showing a tidy profit but some may have got bigger prices about the first two winners especially.

All of the horses concerned had disappointed slightly at some point previously in their winning season so if a well fancied Nicholls' hurdler fails to deliver in an early season race, make a note of it and perhaps it may end up in something like the 2012 County Hurdle.

The best trials for this race are the Betfair Hurdle (formerly Totesport Trophy), the Imperial Cup in the UK and the Boylesports Hurdle in Ireland.

Recent County Hurdle winners Thousand Stars and Silver Jaro figured in the equivalent of the Boylesports Hurdle and in 2011 Final Approach won both races so make that race your first port of call when considering an Irish challenger.