The Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle is for four-year-olds new to the National Hunt scene. With the least form on offer, it can be the hardest race to solve, but with GG’s expert analysis and tips, we hope to give punters the best chance of finding the winner.
Andrew Mount’s Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Tips
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Matty Sutcliffe’s Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Tips
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Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Bookmaker Odds – Race 6, Tuesday 10th March 4:40
The 2026 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle is set to be a hugely competitive contest and we will have all the latest odds for the contest here in the lead-up to the race…
All About The Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2026
There is a chance that the winner of the 2026 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle has not even run over hurdles yet. With the race being limited to four-year-olds, for whom this must be their first season in National Hunt racing, the current crop will have raced very few times.
Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Overlooked Outsiders
This race is often one of the most open at the Festival, with so many unknowns involved. As such, there will likely be a number of overlooked outsiders once the field is declared days before the off.
Qualifications/Trends
A race exclusively for the youngest horses in National Hunt racing, the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle is into its 20th running this year.
Less than a third of the winners of the contest have gone off at single-figure odds so this is often a race to find some value. Even then, only three of those six were the favourite, with Band Of Outlaws the only market leader to oblige within the last decade.
Moreover, looking at the prices of those who were greater than 9/1, many of them are much bigger. In chronological order, such winners went off at 20/1, 40/1, 14/1, 11/1, 40/1, 25/1, 33/1, 25/1, 33/1, 33/1 & 80/1, and 18/1, with Jazzy Matty the latest winner of the race. It’s not as if quietly fancied horses are winning at shorter odds; these are fundamentally outsiders, some of them rank outsiders.
Yet that doesn’t mean you should ignore the big stables. Among those to have trained those unlikely winners are Paul Nicholls (Qualando, 25/1), Nicky Henderson (Une Artiste, 40/1) and Gordon Elliott (Jazzy Matty, 18/1, Flaxen Flare, 25/1 & Veneer Of Charm, 33/1), with Noel Meade having prepared Jeff Kidder in 2021 at 80/1.
Perhaps it’s a case of the stellar yards keeping one back and with so little experience throughout the field, it should be no surprise that shocks happen on a regular basis. Either we simply haven’t seen the best of some of the four-year-olds in the field, or one or two have improved beyond measure since their previous start. It is far likelier to happen in this race than any other.
However, the best statistic is saved for last. There have been 20 runnings of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and 18 different jockeys have won it. Mark Walsh became the first jockey to have won two renewals in 2022 with Brazil, having previously steered Aramax to victory in 2020. JJ Slevin joined him with victory in 2024.
2026 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Prize Money
The 2025 winner Puturhandstogether won over £45,000 for winning the race.
Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle History
Introduced in 2005, the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle has given the juvenile hurdlers shy of Triumph Hurdle class a chance to win a significant prize at the greatest jumps Festival.
With inexperience to the fore, it is often the case that the horses who go on to achieve most may not have won this race. Of the previous winners, Sanctuaire may be the standout name, for all he is possibly best known for being eaten alive by Sprinter Sacre in the 2012 Tingle Creek. He was a two-time Grade 2 winner over fences though.
However, it is among the recently vanquished that we find Nube Negra. Dan Skelton’s now brilliant chaser was favourite for the race in 2018, but could finish only third to Veneer Of Charm. Just three years later and we know exactly who he is now.
The race’s greatest claim to fame is probably due to Gaspara’s feat in 2007. As with The Shunter doubling up at Kelso and Cheltenham in March to win a £100,000 bonus, David Pipe’s juvenile filly managed the same thing, arguably more impressively.
She rode the crest of a wave having joined Pipe from France, winning her first two novice hurdles before taking the Imperial Cup at Sandown. Three days later, she showed up in this race with a mere 4lb penalty and won impressively. Her bonus for connections was £75,000 and just as well: she never won again.
Maybe, the best winner was saved until 2021. Jeff Kidder may have been 80/1, but he’d step up to Graded company on his next two starts, winning at the highest level in Punchestown’s Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.
Winners since 2005
| Year | Horse | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Dabiroun | J:Nina Carberry T:Paul Nolan | 20/1 |
| 2006 | Shamayoun | J:Paddy Brennan T:Charles Egerton | 40/1 |
| 2007 | Gaspara | J:Andrew Glassonbury T:David Pipe | 9/2J |
| 2008 | Crack Away Jack | J:Paul Carberry T:Emma Lavelle | 14/1 |
| 2009 | Silk Affair | J:Tom O’Brien T:Mick Quinlan | 11/1 |
| 2010 | Sanctuaire | J:Ruby Walsh T:Paul Nicholls | 4/1F |
| 2011 | What A Charm | J:Paul Townend T:Arthur Moore | 9/1 |
| 2012 | Une Artiste | J:Jerry McGrath T:Nicky Henderson | 40/1 |
| 2013 | Flaxen Flare | J:Davy Condon T:Gordon Elliott | 25/1 |
| 2014 | Hawk High | J:Brian Hughes T:Tim Easterby | 33/1 |
| 2015 | Qualando | J:Nick Schofield T:Paul Nicholls | 25/1 |
| 2016 | Diego Du Charmil | J:Sam Twiston-Davies T:Paul Nicholls | 13/2 |
| 2017 | Flying Tiger | J:Richard Johnson T:Nick Williams | 33/1 |
| 2018 | Veneer Of Charm | J:Jack Kennedy T:Gordon Elliott | 33/1 |
| 2019 | Band Of Outlaws | J:J J Slevin T:Joseph O’Brien | 7/2F |
| 2020 | Aramax | J:Mark Walsh T:Gordon Elliott | 15/2 |
| 2021 | Jeff Kidder | J:Sean Flanagan T:Noel Meade | 80/1 |
| 2022 | Brazil | J:Mark Walsh T:Padraig Roche | 10/1 |
| 2023 | Jazzy Matty | J:Michael O’Sullivan (3) T:Gordon Elliott | 18/1 |
| 2024 | Lark In The Mornin | J:J J Slevin T:Joseph O’Brien | 9/1 |
| 2025 | Puturhandstogether | J:Mark Wals T:Joseph O’Brien | 17/2 |
Cheltenham Festival Racing Schedule