Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse 2025

On the National Hunt racing calendar since 1927, the Champion Hurdle is none other than the premier two-mile hurdle race in the jumps game, naturally, run during the Cheltenham Festival in mid-March every year.

Carrying Grade One status, worth £450,000 and crowning its winner as the “champion hurdler”, this race is the feature on day one of the Festival every year and has been won by some of the jumping’s biggest names of all time.

Recognisable winners to various generations over the decades include Persian War, Lanzarote, Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Dawn Run, See You Then, Kribensis, Istabraq, Hurricane Fly, Faugheen, Annie Power and Buveur D’Air, the list a veritable who’s who of the hurdling game.

Notable trials for this race include the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, while many winners afterwards head off to Aintree or Punchestown as well as returning to Cheltenham for another go.