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Sefton Novices’ Hurdle: Past Winners, Stats & History

Grand National Festival
Course:
Aintree
Mildmay Hurdle Course
Grade:
Grade 1
Length:
3m ½f
Last Winner:
Gelino Bello @ 7/2
Prize Money:
£100,000 (2022)

The Sefton Novices’ Hurdle is the newest of the Grand National Festival’s novice races over the smaller obstacles. At three miles and half a furlong, this is a contest for stayers and as such draws comparisons with the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with Black Jack Ketchum (2006) and At Fishers Cross (2013) winners of both.

The inaugural running was in 1988, won by Nicky Henderson’s Rustle, who followed up winning the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle with a win in the Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle the following season.

Sefton Novices' Hurdle Course Map (Mildmay Hurdle Course)

Aintree Mildmay Jumps Course Map

Sefton Novices' Hurdle Past Winners

Year Winner SP Trainer Jockey
2022 Gelino Bello 7/2 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden
2021 Ahoy Senor 66/1 Lucinda Russell Derek Fox
2020 Abandoned - - -
2019 Champ 9/4 Nicky Henderson Mark Walsh
2018 Santini 6/4 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville
2017 The Worlds End 3/1 Tom George Adrian Heskin
2016 Ballyoptic 9/1 Nigel Twiston-Davies Ryan Hatch
2015 Thistlecrack 25/1 Colin Tizzard Tom Scudamore
2014 Beat That 6/1 Nicky Henderson Barry Geraghty
2013 At Fishers Cross 11/8 Rebecca Curtis A P McCoy
2012 Lovcen 8/1 Alan King Robert Thornton
2011 Saint Are 33/1 Tim Vaughn Richard Johnson
2010 Wayward Prince 9/1 Ian Williams Dougie Costello
2009 Ogee 25/1 Renee Robeson Jimmy McCarthy
2008 Pettifour 16/1 Nigel Twiston-Davies Paddy Brennan
2007 Chief Dan George 20/1 James Moffatt Mick Fitzgerald
2006 Black Jack Ketchum 8/13 Jonjo O'Neill Tony McCoy
2005 Asian Maze 7/1 Tom Mullins Ruby Walsh
2004 Accipiter 14/1 Toby Balding Tom Best
2003 Iris's Gift 10/11 Jonjo O'Neill Barry Geraghty

About the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle

Croxteth Hall in Liverpool
Croxteth Hall, home of the 2nd Earl of Sefton, Rept0n1x, Wikimedia Commons

The Sefton Novices’ Hurdle is a National Hunt Hurdle race which is run at Aintree Race Course in early April of each year at the Grand National meeting. The race is open to horses that are of four years of age and older, and as it is a novice race, meaning that the runners cannot have won a race of this kind before the start of the current season. The race comprises of 13 hurdles and despite being novice race the field is one of the most highly competitive of the year. This is abundantly clear from the list of winners over the years, which includes Saint Are and Thistlecrack.

The highly entertaining race was first run in 1988 and was originally called the Satin Novices’ Hurdle and also began its life as a Grade 2 race. This was before its name change in 1993 to its current title. In 1995 the contest was upgraded to its current Grade 1 standing.

The starting field for the Sefton Novices’ is often quite comparable to a race which is run in the previous month. The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle which is run at the Cheltenham Festival in March draws many similarities to the Aintree run, so for any pointers as to how horses may fare in this race, it is best to consult the previous result at Cheltenham.

The Winning Formula

The first outing for this race was won by Rustle, a horse under the tutelage of the well-renowned Nicky Henderson. Since then the field has been filled by some of the best horses in the National Hunt racing, not to mention some of the best and jockeys and trainers alike. The jockeys with the most wins so far are Anthony McCoy and Barry Geraghty with three apiece, although since McCoy and Geraghty have retired it could be up to one of the younger jockeys to become the standout record holder. Three other jockeys have won the contest twice, with Carl Llewellyn, Richard Johnson and Robert Thornton with the honours there.

Multiple Sefton Novices’ Chase Winning Jockeys: 1988 – 2022

Wins Jockey First Win (Horse) Last Win (Horse)
3 Barry Geraghty 2000 (Sackville) 2014 (Beat That)
3 A. P. McCoy 1998 (Unsinkable Boxer) 2013 (At Fishers Cross)
2 Robert Thornton 2002 (Stromness) 2012 (Lovcen)
2 Richard Johnson 1997 (Forest Ivory) 2011 (Saint Are)
2 Carl Llewellyn 1992 (Barton Brook) 1999 (King’s Road)

On the trainer side of things, many of the best within the world of horse racing have claimed victory here. However, it is the trainer with that first ever win of this contest, Nicky Henderson, who leads the way by being a four-time winner. David Nicholson and Nigel Twiston-Davies are close behind with three wins each at the time of writing ahead of the 2023 renewal.

Multiple Sefton Novices’ Chase Winning Trainers: 1988 – 2022

Wins Trainer First Win (Horse) Last Win (Horse)
4 Nicky Henderson 1988 (Rustle) 2019 (Champ)
3 Nigel Twiston-Davies 1999 (King’s Road) 2016 (Ballyoptic)
3 David Nicholson 1992 (Barton Bank) 1997 (Forest Ivory)
2 Alan King 2002 (Stromness) 2012 (Lovcen)
2 Jonjo O’Neill 2003 (Iris’s Gift) 2006 (Black Jack Ketchum)

Reading the History

As the race was only first run in 1988, it makes it a relatively new event on the horse racing calendar. As such, we can pull some comparisons relatively easily form the previous results. From the chart below you can see that the vast majority of races have been won by horses aged either six or seven. In fact, horses of that age have been successful in over 79% of all the renewals ever run. More specifically, horses aged six alone, have won the contest a whopping 52.9% of the time. Some statistics that surely cannot be ignored when making a pick for this one.

Chart Showing the Ages of the Sefton Novices' Hurdle Winners Between 1988 and 2022

Other Races of Note at Aintree

  • Aintree Bowl Chase
  • Aintree Hurdle
  • Anniversary 4-Y-O Hurdle
  • Becher Chase
  • Grand National
  • Grand Sefton Chase
  • Liverpool Hurdle
  • Maghull Novices' Chase
  • Manifesto Novices' Chase
  • Marsh Chase
  • Mersey Novices' Hurdle
  • Mildmay Novices' Chase
  • Sefton Novices' Hurdle
  • Top Novices' Hurdle
  • Topham Handicap Chase

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