Festival Trials Day 30th January 2027

Race 1 - Novices' Handicap Chase (GBB Race) - 12:05

Lasting for two miles, four furlongs and one-hundred and twenty-seven yards (2m, 4f, 127y), the Novices’ Handicap Chase is, as the name suggests, a handicap race for novice chasers. As with the other races on Festival Trials Day, it takes place on the New Course at Cheltenham. It had seventeen fences that must be negotiated and is a Class 2 race.

Open for five-year-olds and older, there are no weight restrictions in place on account of the fact that this is a handicap race. The race will last about five minutes and fifteen seconds with just four running last time around.

There are a number of handicap chases during the Festival that this race could tell you something about, most notably the Novices' Handicap Chase on Day One of the meeting.

Race 2 - Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle (GBB Race) - 12:40

Festival Trials Day doesn’t mess around when it comes to the order of the races, getting things started with a real bang. Known as the JCB Triumph Hurdle, this is a Grade 2 race that take place on the Cheltenham New Course. It’s for novice hurdlers and lasts for two miles and one-hundred and seventy-nine yards (2m, 179y). There are eight hurdles to be jumped during the course of the race and it’s open to four-year-olds only.

First established in 1985, this is the race that people watch to get some indications about the Triumph Hurdle in the Festival proper. Don’t be lulled into thinking that the winner of this is nailed on to win the Triumph Hurdle, however - only two horses have done the double at the time of writing. Katchit pulled that off in 2007 before Defi Du Seuil repeated the trick in 2017.

Robert Thornton managed three back-to-back wins in 2007, 2008 and 2009, having already won the race in 2003. That makes him the race’s joint-best jockey with Barry Geraghty, who has also won it four times.  Nicky Henderson has trained the winner of this race six times, including winning five races between 2013 and 2024.

The race will take around four minutes and usually attracts a field approaching double figures, last year 10 running with 9 finishing.

Race 3 - Trophy Handicap Chase (GBB Race) - 13:15

Known as the Murphy Group Chase until 2004, this Premier Handicap steeplechase was established in 1993 and was briefly sponsored by a free bets website from 2014 until 2016 and is currently sponsored by a bookmaker.

It is run over two miles, four furlongs and one-hundred and one-hundred and twenty-seven yards (2m, 4f, 127y). It features seventeen fences and is open to horses aged five and over. As with the race that came before, race number three on Festival Trials Day is a handicap endeavour.

The race achieved Listed status back in 2002, back when it had the title of the Ladbroke Trophy Chase, being upgraded to Grade 3 three years later.  It was changed to a Premier Handicap in 2022 as part of ratings changes introduced by the BHA for all Grade 3 handicap races, it retains its same status.

Three horses have won the race more than once, all of them after the turn of the millennium. The Sawyer won back-to-back races in 2009 and 2010, with Wishfull Thinking winning in 2011 and 2014. Annacotty also had back-to-back victories in 2015 and 2016, interestingly with different jockeys and trainers on both occasions.

In terms of jockeys, Norman Williamson has managed two wins, whilst Richard Johnson added a win on Young Spartacus to his two victories with Wishful Thinking. Philip Hobbs was the trainer of both of the horses that Johnson won on, making him the most successful trainer thanks to those three wins. Bob Buckler, The Sawyers trainer, along with Venetia Williams, Nigel Twiston-Davies, Paul Nicholls and Nick Williams are the only other trainers to win the race more than once.

This is another that will take around 5:15 to run.  Last year 11 ran with 10 crossing the line.

Race 4 - Cotswold Chase (GBB Race) - 14:25

This Grade 2 race is open to horses aged five and over. It lasts for three miles and one and a half furlongs (3m, 1f, 56y), with twenty-one fences to be jumped during that time.

In many ways this is the feature race of the day, serving as something of a pointer race for the Gold Cup that will be run during the Festival. Don’t be surprised, therefore, if you see countless people studying the form guide and making notes on the outcome. If the winner doesn’t do well in the Gold Cup then consider it for the Grand National, with Many Clouds winning this one in 2015 before finishing first in the Aintree race later that year.

In terms of previous winners, ‘Abandoned because of frost’ has its name in the record books the most times as it happened in 1987, 1992 and 1996. As for the horses, the aforementioned Many Clouds had two victories before sadly passing away after winning the race in 2017. See More Business is the only other horse to win it more than once, with victories coming in 1998 and 2001. A number of jockeys have won it more than once, including Colin Brown, Nico de Boinville and Leighton Aspell, but it’s Steve Smith Eccles and Tony McCoy who share the honour of most wins for a jockey with three apiece.

There’s no question that there’s one stand-out leader when it comes to trainers, despite the fact that both David Elsworth and Oliver Sherwood have both been behind two victories in the race. That is nothing when compared to Paul Nicholls’s four wins, however. He was behind both of See More Business’s victories as well as Taranis in 2010 and Neptune Collonges the following year. The latter then went on to become another horse to win the Grand National after the Cotswold Chase, doing so in 2012.

You might think there’d be more multiple winners of a race that was first run in 1980 as the Tote Double Chase but there you go.  It is notable that Nicky Henderson trained the first ever winner in 1980 and then didn't win again for 40 years, getting his second and third victories in 2020 and 2022.  Willie Mullins didn't train a winner in this race until 2024 too.  In 2021 the race was held at Sandown due to the cancellation of Festival Trials Day due to flooding.

Being the longest race of the day this will take at least six and a half minutes but it isn't often the biggest field with four running in 2026.

Race 5 - International Hurdle (GBB Race) - 15:00

Previously the big race that leant it's name to the International Meeting before Christmas. The race was moved to Festival Trials Day as part of pattern changes announced in 2023.

Sponsored by Unibet, the Grade 2 hurdle is for horses aged four and over. It’s run over two miles, seven furlongs and one hundred and seventy-nine yards (2m, 179y) and features eight hurdles for the horses to jump.

It was first run in 1963 when Scottish Memories was the winner, back then it was called the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle. Three horses have won the race three times.  The first to do was Birds Nest who won in 1977, 1978 and 1980.  Next to manager it was Relkeel, the only one to do it back-to-back between 1997 and 1999. He was honoured with a race named after him, the Relkeel Hurdle, run at the New Year's Day meeting.  The other horse to manage the feat was The New One winning in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

The most successful trainer to date is Nicky Henderson with his seven wins, whilst Richard Johnson’s six wins makes him the most successful jockey. If a horse completes the Unibet International / Champion Hurdle double then it will be on the receiving end of a £200,000 bonus. The last horse to manage this, however, was Rooster Booster in 2002-2003.  When once in a generation hurdler Constitution Hill won this race in 2025 he went off at the shortest odds in the history of the race, just 1/12.

Despite the prestige of the race, the field is normally limited to around five to ten horses (just four running last time).  The race was not run in 2022 thanks to frost causing the International Saturday to be abandoned and there was no winner in 2023 either as it was moved to Festival Trails Day 2024.  It should take pretty much four minutes to run.

Race 6 - Cleeve Hurdle (GBB Race) - 15:35

The next race on Festival Trials Day is the Cleeve Hurdle, named after the highest point in Gloucestershire, Cleeve Hill. It is a Grade 2 race that lasts for two miles, seven furlongs and two-hundred and thirteen yards (2m, 7f, 213y).

It is open to horses aged five and over and normally features a field of about six to ten competitors (six last year). There are twelve hurdles that the horses will need to get over if they’re hoping to be in the lead when they cross the finish line.  It should last around 6 minutes.

Established in 1983, it earned Listed status by the end of that decade and was had the full title of the Bishops Cleeve Hurdle. It became a Grade 1 race in 1991 and then downgraded to Grade 2 back in 2004. Originally ran over two miles, five furlongs and one-hundred and ten yards, the length was extended in 2005. Horses that do well in this race tend to go on to compete in the Stayers' Hurdle during the Festival, with the most obvious examples of horses to do the double being Big Buck’s, Inglis Drever, Thistlecrack and Paisley Park.

Three horses have won this race more than once.  Most recently Cheltenham legend Paisley Park with back-to-back wins in 2019, 2020 and 2022 (2021 abandoned), then Big Buck’s getting two wins in 2009 and 2012, well after Lady Rebecca’s three wins in a row between 1999 and 2001. Lady Rebecca’s jockey on all three occasions was Norman Williamson, who also won on Mudahim in 1995 to make him the race’s most successful jockey. Richard Johnson, Ruby Walsh, Tom Scudamore and Tony McCoy have all won the race twice and Aidan Coleman three times back-to-back. The 2022 Grand National winner Noble Yeats won the race in 2024.

When it comes to trainers and their relative success in this race Alan King, David Elsworth, Howard Johnson, Nick Williams and Nigel Twiston-Davies have all managed two wins over the years - the latter, Nigel, winning it 27 years apart, first in 1998 and then in 2025. There are two trainers who have gone one better than all of them though, given that Paul Nicholls and Venetia Williams have all managed hat-tricks of wins.  There is only one trainer with four wins though, that is Paisley Park trainer Emma Lavelle who won three times with him and then in 2026 with Ma Shantou.

Race 7 - Classic Novices' Hurdle (GBB Race) - 16:10

This Grade 2 hurdle race is for horses four-years-old and above. It lasts for two miles and four and a half furlongs (2m, 4f, 56y), with ten hurdles for the horses to negotiate during that distance.  It should take around five minutes with a field between 5-10, seven running last time.

As the name suggests, the race is for novice hurdlers, meaning that no horse has won it more than once. When it comes to jockeys, both Wayne Hutchinson and Tony McCoy have won it twice, but the standout leader is Barry Geraghty with his four victories.

When it comes to talking about successful trainers, it’s interesting to note that only two of them have won it more than once and they’ve both won it four times. Alan King won it for the first time with Batonnier in 2012 before registering back-to-back victories in 2015 and 2016 and again in 2022, whilst Nicky Henderson first won it in 2008 then did so again three years later before claiming his third victory in 2018 and fourth in 2019.

First run in 2005, this race can be seen as a precursor to the Spa Novices Hurdle that takes place during the week of the Cheltenham Festival. Wichita Lineman and Bobs Worth are two horses that have managed that double, for example.