With a star-studded roll of honour the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle is one of the premier Grade 1 races for the novice hurdlers and run over 2m 5f it’s often a hugely competitive affair with the leading UK & Irish-trained middle-distance novice hurdlers doing battle. We look back at the recent history of the race and pick out some vital trends and statistics for the contest which kicks off day two of the Cheltenham Festival.
Age
Formerly sponsored by Ballymore, the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle is a race for young, emerging hurdlers to show their class at Prestbury Park and looking back at the last two decades just emphasises the fact that you need to be a relative youngster to claim victory. Open to four-year-olds and above, the last juvenile to win the race came all the way back in 1991 when Crystal Spirit won for Ian Balding.
In more recent times the golden age for this race is six years old with 13 of the last 20 winners being that age when they land victory, while there have been six five-year-olds that have landed the prize. The sole seven-year-old to win the race was the Willie Mullins-trained Sir Gerhard, who defied testing conditions to win the 2022 renewal.
Age Of Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle Winners In Last 20 Years
- 5 – 6 winners
- 6 – 13 winners
- 7 – 1 winner
- 8 – 0 winners
Starting Price
Punters have been wise to stick with those towards the head of the betting over the last 20 years as there have only been three double-figured priced winners in that time, with the biggest priced winner being the 20/1 outsider Massini’s Maguire in the 2007 renewal. Favourites have an excellent recent record in the contest having won four of the last six renewals, so it’s those dominant figures in the betting that have prevailed.
Despite attracting decent numbers in terms of runners, the Baring Bingham has been one of those races that can kick punters off on day two with a positive result, as the cream usually rises to the top and it will be fascinating to see how the 2024 renewal runs out.
Starting Price Of Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle Winners In Last 20 Years
- 1/2 to 2/1 – 6 winners
- 9/4 to 5/1 – 5 winners
- 11/2 to 9/1 – 6 winners
- 10/1 to 16/1 – 2 winners
- 20/1+ – 1 winner
Rating
Novice hurdlers often don’t reach their peak rating during that season and will go on to gain bigger marks as their career goes on, but official ratings suggest that you have to be a very smart performer to land the Baring Bingham with only one horse in the last 15 years to have been rated less then 145. The horse in question was First Lieutenant who was rated 142 when winning the 2011 race.
More recently there have been some top notch winners of the race and two have been rated 156 and they were Yorkhill (2016) and Envoi Allen (2020), but it’s been a horse rated between that 146 and 155 that have excelled in this race. 12 of the last 15 winners have been rated in that field and that is a pretty high rating for a novice hurdler, so the Official Ratings stats should certainly give you guidance of trying to find the winner of the race.
Official Rating Of Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle Winners In Last 15 Years
- <140 – 0 winners
- 141-145 – 1 winner
- 146-150 – 6 winners
- 151-155 – 6 winners
- 156+ – 2 winners
Looking For More Racing Info? Check Out Our Racecards & Top Tips Sections
Make sure you’re following us on all our social media platforms to keep up to date with all the latest horse racing news and the best tips.