Fighting Fifth Hurdle Betting Tips, Winners & History

Next Race: TBD

The next renewal of this race has not been scheduled yet. We will update this once the schedule has been released for next season. The race info, trends and tips shown below will be updated for the next renewal once the final declarations have been made.

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Betting Tips

Note: The following tips are from 2020. Tips for the next renewal will be added once the final declarations have been made.

With five wins in total, and three in the space of the past seven years, it is Lambourn-based handler Nicky Henderson who tops the all-time trainers’ table in this race. Henderson will likely have high hopes of adding to that tally this year as it is his sole entry, Epatante, who is currently out in front at the head of the market.

Recent evidence suggests that those runners aged between five and seven years of age hold the edge here, with eight of the past 10 winners falling into that age bracket; the only outliers are Irving, who scored as an eight year old in 2016, and Countrywide Flame, who came out on top at the youthful age of four in 2012.

We haven’t had too many outright shocks in this race, with last year’s champ, Cornerstone Lad, being the only winner to have returned a double figure SP in the past decade. Nevertheless, this still hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for favourite backers, with supporters of the market leader being rewarded with a £1 level stakes loss of £4.61 over this 10-year period.

Epatante – Evens

Twice successful with Buveur D’air and once each with Straw Bear and My Tent Or Yours, JP McManus leads the way amongst the owners in this race. According to the market, McManus may well be adding further to that tally this year, as it is the current hot favourite Epatante who will be carrying those famous green and gold silks this time around.

Of course this runner has far more going for her that the excellent record in the race of her trainer and owner. She does also arrive here as Britain’s reigning champion hurdler having scorched to a three-length victory at the Cheltenham Festival back in March. That performance clearly makes her the one to beat here, and indeed in almost any two mile hurdle contest where she shows up. Looking for negatives is pretty difficult. She will be having her first outing for 263 days, but has scored first time up on the back of breaks of 353 and 261 days in the past. It is also possible that last season’s Champion Hurdle wasn’t the strongest of renewal’s.

However, having also routed the field by five lengths in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, she is fully proven at this level, and this race wouldn’t appear to be stronger on paper than either of her two previous top-fight successes. Five from six over hurdles overall, three pounds clear of the field on official ratings, and in receipt of the seven pound fillies and mares allowance, she ought to take a lot of beating if granted a clear round.

Sceau Royal – 4/1

For all that he was only beating a lame Buveur D’Air in the race 12 months ago, defending champ Cornerstone Lad may still have been a little disrespected in the market at around the 22/1 mark, but on balance, the most likely threat to the jolly is the Alan King-trained eight year old, Sceau Royal.

As mentioned, that age stat may be against him but other than that this Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned runner has plenty to suggest he may be up to running a very big race. A high class chaser, with career highlights including a Grade 1 win in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and twice finishing second to the brilliant Altior, he seemed to fall out of love with the larger obstacles a little last season. The decision was therefore taken to allow him to try his hand over hurdles once more, and so far that decision has paid off. A two and three quarter length verdict over Ballyandy in the Welsh Champion Hurdle on his comeback at Ffos Las in October has been franked, with the runner up that day having since gone on to fill the same spot under a big weight in the Greatwood Hurdle.

Sceau Royal’s next assignment meanwhile took him to Wincanton for the Elite Hurdle, where he could scarcely have been more impressive in cantering all over the field before pulling clear to score by seven and a half lengths. If judged on his two efforts this season, undergoing wind surgery over the summer seems to have done this one the world of good and, only once outside of the first two in his 11 outings on good ground, conditions would also look to be in his favour.