Fighting Fifth Hurdle Tips, Odds & Runners 2024

A starting point for so many British-trained Champion Hurdle contenders, the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle is the only top tier race at Newcastle over jumps. Here, our tipsters give their best bets for the race, while we also preview the runners and odds.

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Betting Tips

The first 2m Grade 1 of the hurdling campaign in Great Britain, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle often hosts a modern great, with the likes of Constitution Hill, Epatante and Buveur D’Air all Champion Hurdlers who have won this on their way to Cheltenham in the past decade. With intrigue clouding a number of runners this season, here is who our tipsters believe will win the race.

Tips to follow

Who are the Top Three Favourites to Win this Year’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle?

Some of the sport’s training powerhouses are set to unleash the stars among their ranks in the 2024 Fighting Fifth Hurdle. Here are the three market leaders with the race upcoming.

Sir Gino

Some juvenile hurdlers struggle to make an impact when they step out into open company for the first time. Sir Gino looks like he is made from a different mould though, with his form last term, coupled with his reputation, suggesting he may be different class.

Nicky Henderson has had to pull Constitution Hill from the race due to injury, but his four-year-old is unbeaten, setting a high standard of early hurdles form in France, then winning his first two starts in the UK by a combined 24 lengths. The second of those came in Grade 2 company at Cheltenham.

He claimed a first Grade 1 at Aintree having been forced to miss the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with that form receiving a significant boost from the runner-up at Punchestown. His gallop with Constitution Hill raised eyebrows, as it was not Sir Gino struggling to keep up and hopes will be high that he can fill his stablemate’s horseshoes in style here.

Mystical Power

We heard a lot about Mystical Power in his first season over hurdles for one particular reason: he is the first foal of Champion Hurdler Annie Power, by no less a sire than Galileo. He could have made up into some flat performer for Willie Mullins and who’s to say he won’t just yet.

Five hurdling starts came last season and four wins arrived, the only defeat coming when outstayed up the Cheltenham Hill in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by Slade Steel. However, he claimed two Grade 1s after that, getting his revenge on that rival at Punchestown having held off Firefox at Aintree in between.

He improved in those final two top tier races and could easily improve plenty more given his age. It is usually easier for slightly older novices to step up in their second seasons than juveniles like Sir Gino, so he looks a strong contender.

Brentford Hope

Among more established hurdlers, the enigmatic Brentford Hope is the likeliest danger to the big two in the market. Trained by Harry Derham, the seven-year-old is has not finished outside the first three since May 2023, improving 26lb in the handicap since the beginning of last season.

In that time, he won handicaps at both Newcastle and Haydock before finishing a game second to runaway winner Daddy Long Legs in a Listed Punchestown handicap off top-weight. His return saw him finish second to the race-fit Rubaud at Wincanton in the Elite Hurdle, though that three-runner contest was a world short of how tricky this test will be.

Who Are This Year’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle Underdogs?

Trained by Kerry Lee, Nemean Lion claimed a Grade 2 in February but was outclassed in the Champion Hurdle and Aintree Hurdles. These could prove slightly calmer waters and he has a good record fresh, so could surprise a few at least from an each-way perspective.

Lump Sum looks a likely improver for Sam Thomas while Salver was third in the Triumph Hurdle missed by Sir Gino. Enough rain could help his chances of a place.

Last Year’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle Odds

Moved to Sandown after Newcastle’s meeting was abandoned, 11-year-old Not So Sleepy was the 9/1 outsider of four but stunned his trio of rivals with a dominant success.

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Racecourse 

Newcastle’s track often rides testing at this time of the year, so the Fighting Fifth Hurdle can suit a horse who excels on soft ground, or who has a bit of extra stamina. It is a gently undulating and turning course, so track position off the rail is not crucial. Nevertheless, a good track position can be handy, with front-runners often able to pinch a better finish than they otherwise might.

Are There Any Specific Fighting Fifth Hurdle Betting Offers?

As with any Grade 1 National Hunt race, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle will have extra places or price boost offers attributed to it on the day of the contest. These will be available throughout GG once the race approaches.

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Trends & Historic Data

Five favourites have passed the post first in the last ten renewals, although some market leaders have been beaten at prohibitive prices, with 2/13, 6/5 and 5/4 favourites all losing in the Fighting Fifth within the past decade.

Usually, a race of this nature would give punters a better idea of the age demographic taken to win the race. However, the last two winners have been aged five and 11, three six-year-old winners and a nine-year-old also scoring since 2014. There is significant variation, and you only have to go back to 2012 for the last four-year-old winner in Countrywide Flame.

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Horse Entries & Selections

The only criteria to meet an entry for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle is that a horse is aged four or above. Otherwise, any horse of any experience or ability can be declared if connections wish, while fillies and mares get their traditional 7lb allowance in the race.

Which Trainers Have Historically Had the Most Success in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle?

Nicky Henderson has been comfortably the best trainer to follow in recent years. He has five wins since 2017 alone, adding to three beforehand to make him the winning-most trainer in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle’s history.

There has been less success for Irish trainers, albeit there have not been too many contenders. Henry De Bromhead in 2015 was the last Irish handler to send across the winner.

Runners & Riders Past Winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
2023*	Not So Sleepy	Hughie Morrison	Sean Bowen	9/1
2022	Constitution Hill	Nicky Henderson	Nico De Boinville	1/4F
2021	Epatante	Nicky Henderson	Aidan Coleman	11/8F
2021	Not So Sleepy	Hughie Morrison	Jonathan Burke	18/1
2020	Epatante	Nicky Henderson	Aidan Coleman	8/11F
2019	Cornerstone Lad	Micky Hammond	Henry Brooke	16/1
2018	Buveur D’Air	Nicky Henderson	Barry Geraghty	11/8
2017	Buveur D’Air	Nigel Twiston-Davies	Barry Geraghty	1/6F
2016	Irving	Paul Nicholls	Harry Cobden	6/1
2015	Identity Thief	Henry De Bromhead	Bryan Cooper	6/1

*2023 renewal was run at Sandown Park