Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle
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The Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in the United Kingdom for four-year-old and above novices. It is run over a distance of 2 miles 5 furlongs (4,225 metres) on the Old Course at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. There are ten hurdles to be jumped in the race.
The race was introduced in 1971 as the Aldsworth Hurdle and the name was changed in 1974 when the insurance company Sun Alliance began sponsoring the race. It became the Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle, which was altered to Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle after the merger of Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance in 1996. The race has been run under its present sponsored title since 2007 and is registered as the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle.
Following the abandonment of racing due to high winds on the second day of the 2008 Festival, the race was rescheduled and run on Cheltenham's New Course over a distance of 2 miles 4½ furlongs (4,124 metres).
[edit] Winners
- Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
| 1971 | Midsprite | 5 | Macer Gifford | Harry Thomson Jones |
| 1972 | Even Dawn | 5 | Ron Hyett | Katie Gaze |
| 1973 | Willie Wumpkins | 5 | Pat Colville | Adrian Maxwell |
| 1974 | Brown Lad | 8 | Ron Barry | Paddy Osbourne |
| 1975 | Davy Lad | 5 | Dessie Hughes | Mick O'Toole |
| 1976 | Parkhill | 5 | Dessie Hughes | Mick O'Toole |
| 1977 | Counsel Cottage | 6 | Sean Treacy | Paddy Mullins |
| 1978 | Mr Kildare | 5 | Tommy Carmody | Liam Browne |
| 1979 | Venture to Cognac | 6 | Mr Oliver Sherwood | Fred Winter |
| 1980 | Drumlargan | 6 | Tommy Ryan | Edward O'Grady |
| 1981 | Gaye Chance | 6 | Sam Morshead | Fred Rimell |
| 1982 | Mister Donovan | 6 | Tommy Ryan | Edward O'Grady |
| 1983 | Sabin du Loir | 4 | Graham Bradley | Michael Dickinson |
| 1984 | Fealty | 4 | Seamus O'Neill | Peter Brookshaw |
| 1985 | Asir | 5 | Mr Ronnie Beggan | Paul Kelleway |
| 1986 | Ten Plus | 6 | Kevin Mooney | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1987 | The West Awake | 6 | Simon Sherwood | Oliver Sherwood |
| 1988 | Rebel Song | 6 | Simon Sherwood | Oliver Sherwood |
| 1989 | Sayfar's Lad | 5 | Mark Perrett | Martin Pipe |
| 1990 | Regal Ambition | 6 | Peter Scudamore | Martin Pipe |
| 1991 | Crystal Spirit | 4 | Jimmy Frost | Ian Balding |
| 1992 | Thetford Forest | 5 | Richard Dunwoody | David Nicholson |
| 1993 | Gaelstrom | 6 | Carl Llewellyn | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
| 1994 | Danoli | 6 | Charlie Swan | Tom Foley |
| 1995 | Putty Road | 5 | Norman Williamson | David Nicholson |
| 1996 | Urubande | 6 | Charlie Swan | Aidan O'Brien |
| 1997 | Istabraq | 5 | Charlie Swan | Aidan O'Brien |
| 1998 | French Holly | 7 | Andrew Thornton | Ferdy Murphy |
| 1999 | Barton | 6 | Lorcan Wyer | Tim Easterby |
| 2000 | Monsignor | 6 | Norman Williamson | Mark Pitman |
| no race 2001 * | ||||
| 2002 | Galileo | 6 | Jason Maguire | Tom George |
| 2003 | Hardy Eustace | 6 | Kieran Kelly | Dessie Hughes |
| 2004 | Fundamentalist | 6 | Carl Llewellyn | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
| 2005 | No Refuge | 5 | Graham Lee | Howard Johnson |
| 2006 | Nicanor | 5 | Paul Carberry | Noel Meade |
| 2007 | Massini's Maguire | 6 | Richard Johnson | Philip Hobbs |
| 2008 | Fiveforthree | 6 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins |
* The 2001 race was cancelled because of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis.
[edit] Notes
- 1973 - Willie Wumpkins returned from a series of injuries to win the Coral Golden Hurdle Final between 1979 and 1981.
- 1975 - Davy Lad went on to win the 1977 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
- 1983 - Sabin du Loir (one of Peter Scudamore's favourite rides) defeated future Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Dawn Run into second place and future Grand National winner West Tip into third place. Sabin du Loir also won the John Bull Chase 10 years later.
- 1987 - The West Awake won the 1988 Royal & SunAlliance Chase.
- 1997 - Istabraq became the first winner of this race to go on to win the Champion Hurdle. Hardy Eustace was the second.
