When is the Ballymore Novice Hurdle 2020?

Cheltenham Wednesday 11th March 1.30pm

Ballymore Novices Hurdle (Grade 1) (4yo+)

Distance: 2 Miles 5 Furlongs

Weights: 10st 12lb (4yo), 11st 7lb (5yo+), 7lb allowance for fillies and mares

The first race on Ladies Day is the Ballymore Novices Hurdle, formally known as the Neptune Hurdle. It is a grade one race and open to horses aged four years old and older, run on the old course over a distance of about two miles and five furlongs putting the emphasis more on stamina than in the Supreme on Tuesday. There are ten hurdles to be negotiated.

Winners of the race have been known to dominate the hurdling ranks for years to come.

Recent winners include The New One in 2013 and Faugheen in 2014, who went on to win the Champion Hurdle the following year. Irish trained runners have won seven of the last twelve renewals, with four of them being trained by Willie Mullins.

Ballymore Novice Hurdle Trends and Statistics

Here are the Cheltenham Ballymore Novices Hurdle 12 Year Trends and Statistics.

• Age – Nine of the last twelve winners were aged six and the other three were aged five.
• Starting Price – Eleven of the last twelve winners returned at 8/1 or less. Just four went off as favourite.
• Last Run – All of the last twelve winners ran within the last 74 days. Ten of the last twelve winners won last time out.
• Course Form – Just two of the last twelve winners had previously run at Cheltenham. Only one of them had a previous win at Cheltenham.
• Distance Form – Eleven of the last twelve winners had at least one run over 2m 3f – 2m 5f and at least one win over 2m 3f – 2m 5f.
• Hurdle Form – Eleven of the last twelve winners had at least two runs over hurdles. Ten of them had won at least twice over hurdles.
• Official Rating – Ten of the last twelve winners were rated between 146 and 156.
• Graded Wins – Eight of the last twelve winners had won at Grade 3 or higher.
• Season Form – Ten of the last twelve had run at least times in the current season. All twelve had recorded at least one win during the season.
  

Who are the Ballymore Novices Hurdle Leading Contenders?

Currently the leading contenders for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle 2020 are:

• ENVOI ALLEN – Unbeaten in seven rules races, 4 bumpers and  3 hurdles plus a point to point for good measure. Also holds entries in the Supreme and Champion Hurdles. Took the Champion Bumper in style last March.
  
• ASTERION FORLONGE – PTP and bumper winner unbeaten in two hurdle runs winning both impressively including the Grade 1 Pharma at Leopardstown.
• THE BIG BREAKAWAY – Lightly raced PTP winner who has won two minor hurdle races, will stay this far.
• THE BIG GETAWAY – Got off the mark in a Naas maiden in January and has a lot to prove in this company.
  
• THYME HILL – Won the trial for this over course and distance and followed up at Newbury in a Grade 1 could head for the Albert Bartlett on Friday.

What are Keith’s Ballymore Novices Hurdle Tips for 2020?

Here is Keith’s tip for the 2020 Ballymore Novices Hurdle:

A bigger question than what am I tipping here is what is actually going to run.

Like many of these horses, ENVOI ALLEN holds multiple entries and even though he is ante-post favourite for this race he is a viable option for the Champion Hurdle, a race trainer Gordon Elliott has never won. That said, he has a favourites chance here.

ASTERION FORLONGE, although bred for further, has never raced beyond and 2 miles and is more likely to be aimed at the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

THE BIG BREAKAWAY stays this far and may have place chances. Lack of experience is likely to be the downfall of THE BIG GETAWAY in this company.

Proven over course and distance, THYME HILL ticks plenty of boxes in this race and has a big each way shout. Let’s hope connections send him here.

My selection for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle 2020 is: THYME HILL 12/1 each way, if he does however go for the Albert Bartlett, then my alternative is ENVOI ALLEN 5/4.

As this article is written in advance of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, the likely contenders are expected to change as we get closer to Ladies Day. The picture also starts to get much clearer as we approach the festival, with trainers starting to show their cards in the weeks leading up to Day 2. 

To get Keith’s very latest, up-to-date thoughts on the Day 2 card, and his final Day 2 tips, simply register as a FREE FRT member here, and Keith will email you the full Day 2 tips (including for this race) on the morning of Ladies Day.

What was Keith’s Ballymore Novices Hurdle Tip for 2019?

FRT Tipster Keith’s wrote this for the 2019 Mares Hurdle

The two to concentrate on in the anti-post market are CHAMP trained by Nicky Henderson and BATTLEOVERDOYEN trained by Gordon Elliott both have been very progressive over hurdles and both have Grade 1 winning form, my slight preference is for CHAMP who is higher in the official ratings.

My selection for the race is CHAMP 4/1.

Result: CHAMP ran a decent race but had to settle for 2nd place.  CITY ISLAND finished up as winner of the Ballymore Novice Hurdle 2019, another winner at the Cheltenham Festival for jockey Mark Walsh.

Ballymore Novices Hurdle Previous Winners

• 2008 Fiveforthree 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
• 2009 Mikael d’Haguenet 5 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
• 2010 Peddlers Cross 5 Jason Maguire Donald McCain, Jr.
• 2011 First Lieutenant 6 Davy Russell Mouse Morris
• 2012 Simonsig 6 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson
• 2013 The New One 5 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies
• 2014 Faugheen 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
• 2015 Windsor Park 6 Davy Russell Dermot Weld
• 2016 Yorkhill 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
• 2017 Willoughby Court 6 David Bass Ben Pauling
• 2018 Samcro 6 Jack Kennedy Gordon Elliott
• 2019 City Island 6 Mark Walsh Martin Brassil

As these articles are written in advance of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, the likely contenders are expected to change as we get closer to Ladies Day. The picture also starts to get much clearer as we approach the festival, with trainers starting to show their cards in the weeks leading up to Day 2. 

To get Keith’s very latest, up-to-date thoughts on the Day 2 Cheltenham card, and his final Day 2 tips, simply register as a FREE FRT member here, and Keith will email you the full Day 2 tips on the morning of Ladies Day.

Who is FRT’s Cheltenham Day 2 Tipster?

Keith Bond is our resident pro tipster here at FRT Towers. Keith lives and breathes horse racing, having begun his love of horse racing over 40 years ago with a part time job at Catterick Racecourse, as one of three fourteen year-olds looking after two jumps and a hurdle.

Over the years, Keith has been a regular at the northern tracks attending countless race meetings and building up a network of contacts, and a portfolio of systems and strategies. 

He was one of the co-founders of Free Racing Tips all the way back in 2008, and his free tips are now backed by more than seventy thousand FRT members every single day.

“Thanks Keith – It’s great to be part of an amazing group of people all after the same thing, passing on tips to beat the bookies” 

Colin Parkinson, Harrow.

The FRT community love Keith’s attention to detail, knowledge of past races, and ability to pick horses…

“You offer some great tips, some fantastic outsiders tipped up as well. Most tipsters just put up favourites. Well done and keep up the good work”

John Woolley, Stockport