County Handicap Hurdle Betting Odds
After the excitement of the Triumph Hurdle on Day Four of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, we have the County Hurdle where lots of promising contenders will aim to land a victory over two miles and one furlong. The race is sponsored by William Hill and a maximum of twenty-six runners will battle it out, with H operating as the favourite.
However, the latest Cheltenham Festival betting odds suggest that the market is wide open, with Kitzbuhel, Lark In The Mornin and Absurde among the contenders. This is a great race for each-way punters due to the extra places being awarded to the bookmakers, with this being a handicap race where punters are advised to monitor the weights.
Alexei 14/1
Fortune De Mer 16/1
Larzac 16/1
Idaho Sun 16/1
Irancy 16/1
Puturhandstogether 20/1
Let It Rain 20/1
Celtic Dino 20/1
Sixandahalf 20/1
Helnwein 20/1
Doctor Blue 20/1
Place de La Nation 20/1
Live Conti 25/1
Hamlet's Night 25/1
Sainte Lucie 25/1
Sticktotheplan 25/1
Zillow 25/1
Bowmore 25/1
Tutti Quanti 25/1
Gaucher 25/1
Bad 25/1
Ndaawi 25/1
Burdett Road 25/1
Hello Neighbour 25/1
Faivoir 33/1
Absurde 33/1
Blue Lemons 33/1
Too Bossy For Us 33/1
Casheldale Lad 33/1
Gibbs Island 33/1
Bowensonfire 33/1
Miss Altea Blue 33/1
Ataboycharlie 33/1
Mirabad 33/1
French Emperor 33/1
Iberico Lord 33/1
Give It To Me Oj 33/1
Castle Carrock 33/1
Red Oak 33/1
I'll Sort That 33/1
Mondo Man 50/1
Getawhisky 40/1
Jack Hyde 50/1
Serious Challenge 50/1
Laafi 50/1
Authorized Art 50/1
Fiercely Proud 66/1
Fasol 66/1
Kihavah 66/1
Rubaud 66/1
More Horses
2025 County Hurdle Tips If you’re looking for a winner of the County Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, then it’s firstly worth noting that trainers Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins have had plenty of success in the race. Indeed, nine of the previous ten renewals have been won by one of these handlers, with seven of the past eleven to win have previously won at Cheltenham.
It’s actually Emmet Mullins that trains Mclaurey, with the six-year-old having shown plenty of ability to win a couple of races in Ireland this season. Last time out, the runner was able to oblige in a field of eighteen horses at Leopardstown when sent off as the 3/1 favourite, with this coming after a success at Limerick in December.
Kitzbuhel represents Willie Mullins’ best chance of training the 2025 County Hurdle, with the five-year-old obliging at Punchestown in December when landing the spoils by nearly four lengths. That is the only piece of Irish form we have to feed off although the fact that the trainer is such a crack shot at the Festival will mean he has plenty of support.
Lark In The Mornin and Absurde come next in the betting, with the latter able to win the 2024 race and that form alone will mean the horse will have his backers. Twelve months ago, the horse obliged at odds of 12/1 and the seven-year-old performed well at Flemington in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November.
2024 County Handicap Hurdle Tips The County Hurdle is one of the more difficult races in order to find a winner, with plenty of runners and riders in with a chance of landing a success. Iberico Lord recently caught the eye at Newbury when landing a victory against twenty other runners, with this success coming in the Betfair Hurdle when the horse recovered from a sloppy start to win.
That victory was over two miles on heavy ground, so it might be that the Nicky Henderson-trained runner will want some rain in order to perform best. Nico de Boinville is likely to be on board a runner who was able to land a success in the Greatwood Hurdle and we can therefore know that the horse can run well at the Cheltenham track.
Daddy Long Legs is another lively contender, with Willie Mullins saddling a five-year-old who was somewhat off the pace when running at Leopardstown in a novice hurdle. Perhaps the horse will come on for that run, with Down Memory Lane meriting respect after a third-placed finish at Leopardstown during the festive season.
Previously to this, there was a Maiden Hurdle success for the same horse, with King Of Kingsfield having won at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and that runner has to be considered for the shortlist. There was a third-placed finish in a novice hurdle during the Dublin Racing Festival and trainer Gordon Elliott will be confident of a decent showing here.
2023 County Handicap Hurdle Betting Tips The build-up to the Cheltenham Gold Cup continues on Day Four of the Festival when we take in the County Hurdle and it’s a race which is jam-packed with quality horses competing over two miles and one furlong. It’s an encounter where many familiar runners are in action and some of them might be able to cheat the handicapper, having previously run well at the meeting.
Filey Bay certainly ticks plenty of boxes and that explains why the JP McManus-owned runner is trading as favourite. The seven-year-old is one of trainer Emmet Mullins’ best hopes of landing a winner at the meeting, with the horse having won consecutive races before a second-placed finish in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury Racecourse.
Pembroke has the added advantage of having run well at Cheltenham this season. He’s also trained by Dan Skelton who knows what it takes to land a County Hurdle win at the Cheltenham Festival , with the horse finishing second in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park in late January and this runner could be poised to strike.
Gin Coco is another horse that has run well at Cheltenham Racecourse, with the Harry Fry-trained runner having finished second in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle. That was over a similar distance and the horse could certainly be one for the shortlist, with the horse having also hit the frame when running in a handicap hurdle at the Punchestown Festival last year.
The 2022 County Hurdle betting odds are predictably wide open and the first port of call is to look at Top Bandit who is trading as short as 11/2 to land a victory. The top Cheltenham betting sites clearly respect a runner who has won on his past three outings and it appears that Gordon Elliott is going to send the six-year-old to this race on Day Four of the meeting.
Top Bandit won a Novice Hurdle at the beginning of December at Punchestown, with the horse obliging as the 5/6 betting favourite to win. Despite not jumping particularly fluently, the runner still had too much for the rest of the horses in the field, having previously won another novice hurdle at the same course after a maiden hurdle win at Cheltenham.
However, some Cheltenham betting tips will be for a horse at bigger Festival odds and Echoes in Rain is a leading contender. The horse hasn’t registered a win in three outings this National Hunt season, although the runner ran in esteemed company when finishing third in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle.
The horse was sent off at betting odds of 25/1 and actually finished a credible seven lengths behind the legendary Honeysuckle, with the horse having also run in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown Racecourse. It’s entirely possible that the runner will have a brilliant each-way chance against lesser rivals.
West Cork is available at similar Cheltenham Festival betting odds, with Dan Skelton bidding to saddle another County Hurdle betting tip and there is plenty to recommend an eight-year-old who has already got a Cheltenham win to his name this season. This is a horse that won the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle on 14 November 2021 despite the jockey dropping his whip.
Goven has never run at Cheltenham Racecourse, although Willie Mullins will be hoping for a big run from a six-year-old who was the 6/4 winner of a Maiden Hurdle on 12 February. However, the horse clattered a few hurdles when obliging at Naas and will need to cut out those mistakes this time around.
It’s notoriously difficult to find a winner in the Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle and we’ve seen plenty of big-priced winners over the past few years. Ch’tibello obliged at odds of 12/1 in 2019, while we saw a massive 33/1 winner in 2018 when Mohaayed claimed the spoils and that was a good outcome for the bookies .
We tend to get a big field for the County Hurdle which is a Grade 3 race and that is run over a distance of two miles and one furlong. Front View has caught the eye over the past few appearances, with the horse winning a Flat race at the Punchestown Festival last April.
In November, Envoi Allen was the unexpected winner of a Maiden Hurdle at Down Royal, although it was Front View who finished second to a potential superstar and Joseph O’Brien will feel confident that his horse can make an impressive showing.
The five-year-old then claimed a victory of his own when winning another Maiden Hurdle at Navan and we could see this horse trading short, especially with Barry Geraghty on board.
Thatsy is another horse to watch and this is another Gordon Elliott charge who has enjoyed plenty of racing this season although he’s not always been successful when making an appearance.
After winning a Maiden Hurdle over two miles and four furlongs, the six-year-old went up a grade and found life tougher going when finishing fourth place at Leopardstown before a ninth-placed finish at the same track in early February.
Meetings
