The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle brings the Festival to a close, the last of 28 fantastic races, and the close to what will no doubt have been an incredible, but very tiring week.
Rounding off day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival, it’s not the easiest of ends for punters, especially if you’re searching for one final winner. The race is a tightly contested, tough-to-solve handicap hurdle, and no professional jockeys are involved. This race is restricted to conditional jockeys only.
The race is run over two miles and four furlongs, with a total of 10 hurdles to be jumped by the runners. The race is a class 2 handicap, so it is of a good quality, and it always attracts a strong field, so there usually isn’t too much between the top and bottom weights in terms of rating.
The closing race of the day, the closing race of the entire Cheltenham Festival, and it goes out with one of the toughest puzzles of the week to try and solve.
The race is named after Martin Pipe, a trainer who won 34 times at the Cheltenham Festival and was named Champion Trainer fifteen times in his National Hunt career. He retired in 2006 and this race was formed in his honour three years later. As it’s named after a specific person, the race has not had a sponsor to date.
Race Facts
Run over two miles and four and a half furlongs, this class 2 handicap race is for four-year-olds and over. Taking place on the New Course, the left-handed race features ten different hurdles that must be negotiated. It’s a handicap race, meaning that there are no weight restrictions in place for the horses that enter it. Instead they’re all given different weights to carry depending on their ability, age and other factors.
The more astute among you will have spotted the words ‘conditional jockeys’ in the race’s title. This means the race is only open to apprentice jockeys under 26 who haven’t won over seventy-five times under rules.
Records For Most Wins
| Record Type | No of Wins | Record Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | 1 | Multiple |
| Trainer | 4 | Willie Mullins & Gordon Elliott |
| Jockey | 2 | Danny Gilligan |
Race Trends: Winners Since 2009
Previous Winners
| Year | Winner | Age | Odds | Prize | Jockey / Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Air Of Entitlement | 7 | 10/1 | £38,580 |
J: Patrick M O'Brien
T: H De Bromhead
|
| 2025 | Wodhooh | 5 | 9/2 | £39,022.50 |
J: Danny Gilligan
T: G Elliott
|
| 2024 | Better Days Ahead | 6 | 5/1 | £39,023 |
J: Danny Gilligan
T: G Elliott
|
| 2023 | Iroko | 5 | 6/1 | £39,022 |
J: A P Kelly
T: O Greenall & J Guerriero
|
| 2022 | Banbridge | 6 | 12/1 | £39,022 |
J: M M McDonagh
T: J P O'Brien
|
| 2021 | Galopin Des Champs | 5 | 8/1 | £32,498 |
J: S F O'Keeffe
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2020 | Indefatigable | 7 | 25/1 | £43,330 |
J: Rex Dingle
T: Paul Webber
|
| 2019 | Early Doors | 6 | 5/1 | £43,330 |
J: J P O'Brien
T: Jonjo O'Neill
|
| 2018 | Blow By Blow | 7 | 11/1 | £43,792 |
J: Donagh Meyler
T: G Elliott
|
| 2017 | Champagne Classic | 6 | 12/1 | £40,664 |
J: J J Slevin
T: G Elliott
|
| 2016 | Ibis Du Rheu | 5 | 14/1 | £37,536 |
J: Jack Sherwood
T: P F Nicholls
|
| 2015 | Killultagh Vic | 6 | 7/1 | £31,280 |
J: L P Dempsey
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2014 | Don Poli | 5 | 12/1 | £31,280 |
J: M P Fogarty
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2013 | Salubrious | 6 | 16/1 | £31,280 |
J: Harry Derham
T: P F Nicholls
|
| 2012 | Attaglance | 6 | 20/1 | £28,152 |
J: B Hayes
T: Malcolm Jefferson
|
| 2011 | Sir Des Champs | 5 | 9/2 F | £28,179 |
J: Mr P W Mullins
T: E Mullins
|
| 2010 | Pause And Clause | 6 | 14/1 | £31,310 |
J: Johnny Farrelly
T: Emma Lavelle
|
| 2009 | Andytown | 6 | 25/1 | £31,310 |
J: Felix De Giles
T: N J Henderson
|
Race Trivia
Because handicapped races are often quite open affairs, it’s no major surprise to discover that no horse has won it more than once during its previous nine outings. Equally, because the race is only open to conditional jockeys, therefore suggestive of the fact that once they’ve won it they’re likely to be more successful over the coming year, only one jockey has won it more than once – that was Danny Gilligan in 2024 and 2025.
The same restrictions are not in place for trainers, however. Willie Mullins has won it four times (2011, 2014, 2015 & 2021) and like many Cheltenham races he holds the record, although jointly this time. Gordon Elliott’s is the other trainer to have won this four times. He achieved a double-double with back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018 and in 2024 and 2025. Paul Nicholls has won it twice, first in 2013 then again in 2016. Finally Joseph O’Brien has two wins to his name in 2019 and 2022.
The jockeys aren’t the only ones who use this race to gain a bit of much needed experience. Some of the horses that win the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle then go on to compete in bigger and more prestigious races at the Festival. For example, the 2011 winner Sir Des Champs went on to win the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase the following year. He also won the Hennessy Gold Cup in Ireland and the Punchestown Gold Cup in 2013. Likewise, the 2014 winner Don Poli won the RSA Chase at the Festival in 2015.
The 2021 winner Galopin Des Champs, trained by Willie Mullins, went on to win back-to-back Gold Cups in 2023 and 2024. It is certainly a race for looking at future talent and if you look at the list of winners in the table above it is crazy how good some of these winners have been. Save the best till last I guess.
Martin Pipe
The race is named after Martin Pipe, and since its inception in 2009, it has always been named after him, with no sponsor as of yet.
Pipe was a racehorse trainer. His yard and string passed onto his son, David Pipe, when he retired, who is still training to this day.
Martin was top quality, a great figure of the game in the 1980s and 1990s, especially one of the leading lights of national hunt racing.
His career figures are incredible, a champion trainer on 15 different occasions, showing just how much he was able to dominate the sport. He would train more than 200 winners in a season, a total of eight times, the best of those being a massive 243 winners in the 1999/2000 season.
With a handful of flat winners alongside his jumping exploits, he would end his career with a huge 4183 winners in total. Of those, he would record 34 of them at the Cheltenham Festival.
As for the big races at the meeting, he won the Champion Hurdle twice, won the Grand National once, but was never able to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
A true legend of the game, and well honoured by having this race named after him.
Conditional Jockey Eligibility
As mentioned, this race is open to conditional jockeys only, but what is a conditional jockey?
These are young jockeys, still finding their feet in the sport, and they are able to claim a weight allowance when they ride, with the weight dependent on the number of winners they had.
It is important to note that races such as this one, which are solely for conditional jockeys, the weight allowance they can claim is not used, and they all ride off level weights.
For this reason, it’s well worth looking what rides the better conditional jockeys pick up, as they are better than the other riders in the race, and the others cannot claim any weight to try and level the playing field.
To be a conditional, the jockeys must be under 26 years old to begin with. The second element is the number of winners they’ve ridden. When riding 75 winners, they are no longer eligible for this contest, as they are not conditionals anymore.
Those with less than this number can ride in the race and will be able to claim weight depending on their winners.
In general racing, though not for this particular race, less than 20 winners, gives a 7lb claim, 20-40 winners gives a 5lb claim and 41-74 winners gives a 3lb allowance. For jockeys who have less than five winners, an additional 3lb can be claimed, but only for the stable that employs them, in a bid to get stables using their own riders as much as possible.
It’s the closing race of the meeting, and one where young jockeys get the chance to be in the spotlight.