Top Novices' Hurdle Tips & Odds

The Top Novices' Hurdle will take place on Friday 12th April, 2024.

Watch the race live on ITV1 and Racing TV which also offer options to stream the race via their streaming services. 

Alternatively, most bookmakers offer a free live horse racing stream allowing you to watch the race after you've placed a bet.

There have been some fantastic winners of this race down the years, but there are perhaps none more iconic than the Nicky Henderson-trained Buveur d'Air.

Buveur d’Air was a comfortable winner of the Top Novices Hurdle in 2016, and he went on to dominate the two-mile hurdling division for the next two seasons, winning ten races in a row - including back-to-back renewals of both the Aintree Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle, in 2017 and 2018.

Buveur d’Air suffered defeat at both Cheltenham and Aintree in 2019, but bounced back to form in the Punchestown equivalent in May, and he will return to try and regain his throne in 2020. 

As a Grade 1 novice hurdle, there is a defined path to the Top Novices’ Hurdle, and runners tend to head here after taking their chance in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. Earlier in the season, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown, the Supreme Trial at Cheltenham, and the Supreme Trial at Haydock Park. 

The winning most rider in the history of the Top Novices’ Hurdle is the great AP McCoy, with five wins. McCoy’s five wins in the race came courtesy of Fataliste (1998), Straw Bear (2006), Blythe Knight (2007), Darlan (2012), and My Tent Or Yours (2013).

Nicky Henderson has dominated the race in recent years, picking up each of his five wins in the race since 2010. Henderson’s five successes in the Top Novices’ Hurdle came courtesy of General Miller (2010), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013), Josses Hill (2014), and Buveur d'Air (2016).