The November Meeting Betting Offers 2024

This Grade 2 race is also known as the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle, which is a name that was given to it after achieved its current status in 2008. It was known by many titles prior to this and has been run under sponsored names since.

It was known as the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle between 2010 and 2016, for example, when it was being sponsored by Neptune Investment Management. Sponsorship switched to the Ballymore Group in 2017 and then to TrustATrader in 2023.

Run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over 2 miles and 5 furlongs, the race is for horses aged 4 and over and has the following weight information at play:

• Weight: 11 stone
• Fillies and mares receive a 7 pound allowance
• Class 1 weight-for-age hurdle race winners are given a 5 pound penalty
• Class 2 weight-for-age race winners and Class 1 handicap hurdle race winners are given a 3 pound penalty

There are 10 hurdles to be jumped during the course of the race, which is aimed at novice hurdles. As a result of this, obviously no horse has won it more than once. Norman Williamson, Paddy Brennan and Richard Johnson all have, whilst Tony McCoy is the race’s most successful jockey thanks to his four career wins. Philip Hobbs is the most successful trainer with three wins to date.

Run under the title of the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle because of a sponsorship deal with JCB, the race’s official title is the Prestbury Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle. As you might expect if you know anything about juvenile races, it’s limited to horses aged 3. Run over 2 miles and 87 yards on the Old Course, it features 8 hurdles during its running. Given Grade 2 status in 2004, the race has the following weight information for you to take into account:

• Weight: 10 stone 12 pounds
• Fillies and mares receive a 7 pound allowance
• Class 1 weight-for-age hurdle race winners are given a 5 pound penalty
• Class 2 weight-for-age race winners and Class 1 handicap hurdle race winners are given a 3 pound penalty

Tony McCoy once again finds his name on the list of jockeys that have done best in the race, but this time he’s not on his own. Both Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty have won the race as many times as him, whilst the likes of Mick Fitzgerald, Peter Scudamore and Richard Johnson have all enjoyed more than one win.

Martin Pipe once again takes the lead as the race’s best trainer, with Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson battling him for the title. Alan King and Philip Hobbs have also won the race more than once.

A premier handicap (formerly grade 3) offering for chasers, this race was known as the Flowers Original Handicap Chase for two years from 1987 to 1988. It has enjoyed a number of different sponsored titles over the years as the company has taken on sponsorship from the likes of Hoegaarden, Intervet and Morson Group, taking on a different name each time.

It was given the one-off title of the Henrietta Knight Handicap Chase in 2012 after the retirement of Henrietta Knight, a trainer who enjoyed a close relationship with Cheltenham on account of being the women behind the tripe Gold Cup success of Best Mate.

The race takes place over 3 miles, 3 furlongs and 71 furlongs. Though it’s a handicap offering, meaning that the handicappers decide the weight carried by each horse, there is a maximum weight of 11 stone and 12 pounds at play.

Stormez put his name in the race’s record books by winning it twice, firstly in 2002 and then again in 2004, becoming the first horse to do so. When it comes to the most successful trainer and jockey it’s those two names again: Martin Pipe and Tony McCoy.

Unquestionably the highlight of the meeting, as pretty much every race entitled ‘Gold Cup’ is at Cheltenham Racecourse. Another former grade 3 that is now a Premier Handicap offering that is open to horses aged 4 and over, it takes place on the Old Course and is run over 2 miles, 4 furlongs and 44 yards. It features 16 fences and it a handicap race, meaning that the weights carried by the horses are decided by the handicapper.

At the time of writing, 5 horses have won the race more than once, namely:

• Fortria
• Gay Trip
• Half Free
• Bradbury Star
• Cyfor Malta

Things are a lot less tight when it comes to the top jockey and trainer, with Tony McCoy and Martin Pipe leading the way thanks to four and eight wins respectively. The likes of Timmy Murphy, Richard Linley and Richard Dunwoody all run McCoy close, though, with three wins apiece, whilst Fred Rimell, Jonjo O’Neill and Nigel Twiston-Davies have all enjoyed seeing horses they’ve trained with the race on numerous occasions.

The event was first run in 1960 when it was known as the Mackeson Gold Cup thanks to a sponsorship deal with Mackeson Stout. It has had number of different sponsors since 1995, which was the point at which Mackeson relinquished sponsorship duties, including companies such as Murphy’s and Thomas Pink. Since 2003 it has been sponsored by a number of different bookmakers.

Open to horses aged 4 and over, this race is run on the Old Course over 3 miles, 1 furlong and 67 yards. It was formerly a Class 1 Listed race but was downgraded to a class 2 handicap in 2022 following rule changes by the BHA that listed handicaps would be removed from all racing programs.  These races are either promoted to Grade 2 or downgraded to class 2, this race was downgraded but retains the same status.

It features 12 hurdles during the course of the race, so it’s not one for horses without any experience over jumps. The race is a handicap, so the handicapper decides how much weight each horse will carry in order to try to make it as fair as possible. That means that it’s been prone to more than a few surprises in the past, though, so it’s an interesting one to have a wager on.

Known under various different sponsorship names the Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race is one of the youngest to take place during the November Meeting. It was run for the first time in 2013 and is, as the name suggests, limited to female horses. The fillies and mares run over 2 miles and 87 yards on the flat of the Old Course.

The weight for the race is 11 stone, with Class 1 race winners receiving a penalty of 4 pounds. Only open to horses between the ages of 4 and 6, Alan King, Fergal O’Brien and Harry Fry are the only trainers to have won it more than once at the time of writing. Even that is thanks to a dead heat between My Khaleesi and Irish Roe in the 2016 outing (for Alan) and a dead heat between Elle Est Belle and Ishkhara Lady in 2020 (for Fry).

Paddy Brennan (O’Brien) and Wayne Hutchinson (King) are the only two jockeys to win the race more than once.

Also known as the Arkle Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase, this is a Grade 2 offering that was previously run under the title of the Coventry Novices’ Chase and classed at the Listed level. It became the November Novices’ Chase when it was promoted to its current status in 1994. Unlike a lot of races, which often seem to have sponsorship deals with bookmakers, this race was sponsored by the Independent newspaper before the Racing Post took over in 2012 and Paddy Power in 2022.

This race is seen as a trial for the Arkle Trophy and has enjoyed a number of excellent winners in years gone by. Three time Gold Cup winner Best Mate won it in 2000, for example, whilst Azertyuiop won it in 2002 before going on to win both the Arkle and the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

Run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 199 yards, the race is open to novices aged 4 and up. It features 12 fences that the competitors need to get over and, as you’d imagine with a race for novices, has never been won by the same horse more than once. A number of jockeys have won the race four times, including Richard Dunwoody, Richard Johnson and Ruby Walsh.

When it comes to trainers, the likes of David Nicholson, Nicky Henderson and Nigel Twiston-Davies have all won the race several times, but none come anywhere close to the ten wins for Paul Nicholls between 1995 and 2016. That included wins for horses such as Azertyuiop and Al Ferof, who both went on to greater things.

The Cheltenham Chase, known currently as the Schloer Cheltenham Chase because of a sponsorship deal with the soft drink makers Schloer, has only been taking place since 2009. It’s a Grade 2 offering and is open to horses aged 5 and over. Run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 199 yards, it offers riders 12 jumps to negotiate during the race.

It was the Connaught Chase when it was first run in 2009, becoming the Sinbad Testimonial 2010/2011 Chase before taking on its current moniker. It was made into a Listed race in 2013 before being promoted to Grade 2 two years later.

Unlike many of the races written about here, it is not limited in terms of horses entering it after winning it and both Gauvain, Nube Negra and Fox Norton are examples of horses winning it more than once.

Perhaps the best-known winner of the race to date is Sprinter Sacre, who won it in 2015 having won the likes of the Arkle Challenge Trophy, the Tingle Creek Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase in the years before.  Put The Kettle On also won this in 2020 and went on to win the QM Champion Chase the following year.

Interestingly both Fox Norton and Gauvain had different jockeys on their backs for the two wins but Nube Negra was ridden both times by Dan Skelton, who has won the race twice as a jockey. Daryl Jacob, who rode on Gauvain in 2010 and then won again on Sceau Royal in 2018, is another jockey to have won the race more than once, along with Barry Geraghtyand Aidan Coleman.

Alan King, Colin Tizzard, Nick Williams, Philip Hobbs, Dan Skelten have all won it more than once as trainers.  In fact, only two trainers have won the race once, which is unusual. Nicky Henderson holds the record with three wins after his win in 2023.

Run over 2 miles and 87 yards, this race features eight hurdles and is open for horses aged 4 and over. It was classed as a Listed race for some time, eventually being upgraded to Grade 3 in 2004 before changing to a Premier Handicap in 2022 (which has the same status as a Grade 3).

For a time it was sponsored by Greatwood, a charity that looks after retired racehorses. It took on the title of the Racing Post Hurdle when it was sponsored by the industry paper between 2012 and 2013.  When Stan James (later bought by Unibet in 2017) took over sponsorship they brought back the Greatwood name.

The race is a handicap offering and takes place on the Old Course at Cheltenham. Previous winners include the likes of Rooster Booster, who won it in 2002 before going on to win the Champion Hurdle the following year, Sizing Europe, who won a whole host of Chases including the Queen Mother Champion Chase four years after winning this, and Detroit City, who won it in 2006 along with the Triumph Hurdle and a number of other races.

Peter Scudamore, Paddy Brennan and a few other well-known names have won the race more than once, though Jamie Osborne, Tony McCoy and Richard Johnson are the most successful jockeys to win it at the time of writing with three wins each. Similarly Paul Nicholls and Oliver Sherwood are amongst the names that have won it several times as trainers, but it’s that man Martin Pipe that sits at the top of the pile alongside Philip Hobbs with four each.

As the name suggests, this race serves as a trial for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse every March during the Festival. Run over 2 miles and 87 yards, it’s similar to the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle in that there are 8 hurdles to jump and it’s open to horses aged 4 and up. The biggest difference is that that race is a handicap, whereas this one has the following weight information:

• Weight: 11 stone
• Fillies and mares receive a 7 pound allowance
• Class 1 weight-for-age hurdle race winners get a 5 pound penalty
• Class 2 weight-for-age winners and Class 1 handicap hurdle race winners get a 3 pound penalty

Run left-handed on the Old Course, it used to be run over 2 miles and took place in December. It had a furlong added to its distance in 1992 then cut to its current length in 1994, which was also when it was moved to the November Meeting. For a time it was known as the Opus Energy Novices’ Hurdle because of a sponsorship deal with Opus Energy, but in 2013 Sky Bet took over sponsorship duties.

Being a race for novice hurdlers, no horse has won it more than once. Here are some of the most successful horses to have won it in the past, though, along with a selection of their future victories:

• Cue Card: won it in 2010 before going on to win the Ryanair Chase three years later, the King George VI Chase in 2015 and the Betfred Bowl the year after that
• Dodging Bullets: Victorious in this race in 2012, he was bred by Frankie Dettori and caught the eye when he won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2015
• Altior: One of the most impressive horses in recent times, Altior claimed this race in 2015 and then The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle that this is a trial for the following year. Also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2018 and 2019 as well as the Desert Orchid Chase in 2018

A whole host of jockeys have stood on the winners’ podium for this race more than once, including Jamie Osborne, Richard Dunwoody and Ruby Walsh. None have managed to make it there for a third time at the time of writing. Similarly Philip Hobbs, Nicky Henderson and Josh Gifford are examples of trainers who have won it twice, though Paul Nicholls, Colin Tizzard and Martin Pipe have done so on three occasions apiece.

The last race worth telling you about is the Open National Hunt Flat Race, also known as the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and Racing Remember Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race is a bumper race for horses aged between 4 and 6.

Run on the flat over 2 miles and 87 yards, it’s a Class 1 Listed offering.