*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
It’s hardly surprising that so many stables fancy landing the Betfair Hurdle as a cheque worth £87,219 is on offer to winning connections.
Racegoers at Newbury are set to roar on a big field of 18 runners in Saturday’s 15:35 with last year’s winner Glory And Fortune out to defend his crown.
The latest Betfair Hurdle odds are on the Paddy Power website and Paddy Power app – and the big man’s paying SIX places for each-way punters.
The bumper line-up makes it a tricky task trying to pick the winner of the richest handicap hurdle in Europe, although a deep dive into past renewals throws up some key trends and statistics to try and help point us towards the first past the post.
Age
An important starting point is the crucial statistic that 11 of the last 12 winners of the Betfair Hurdle were aged five or six. Glory And Fortune defied the trend when claiming last year’s prize at the age of seven and will bid to defend his crown as an eight-year-old.
Rating
It takes a classy type to land the Betfair Hurdle as 10 of the last 12 winners were rated 134 or higher by the BHA Handicapper, which rules out a number of runner in this year’s renewal. Soaring Glory won the 2021 renewal off a mark of 133 but reached a career-high rating of 149 over hurdles last season.
Season
You can strike a line through runners that are making their first or second run of the season as 11 of the last 12 winners had appeared on track at least twice that term before tackling the Betfair Hurdle. A win in the current campaign is also important as eight of the winners since 2011 had a 1 in their form for that season.
Price
The Betfair Hurdle has generally been a decent rate for horses towards the top of the betting as six of the last 12 winners were in the top three in the market. To further drill down into that statistic, five of those were either the favourite or joint-favourite.
Betfair Hurdle Trends Verdict
Hacker Des Places meets all the key Betfair Hurdle trends. The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding carries a 5lb penalty for last month’s victory in the SSS Super Alloys Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham but it was a career-best performance that indicates he is still progressing.
Saturday’s Racing Tips
- Matt Chapman’s betting tips for ITV Racing
- Rory Delargy’s horse racing tips for Newbury and Warwick
- Mick Fitzgerald’s Newbury and Warwick tips and best bets
- ITV Racing tips and fancies from top trader Frank Hickey
Read These Next
- Gallop over to Paddy Power News for all the latest horse racing tips
- When is the Betfair Hurdle? Newbury date, start time, runners and betting
- Betfair Hurdle tips and runner-by-runner guide to Newbury 3.35 on Saturday
- J P McManus well armed to win another Betfair Hurdle
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