The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...

(2 miles and 87 yards, or ), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the last leg of the

Triple Crown of Hurdling Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

and is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

in March. As its title suggests, the Champion Hurdle is the most prestigious hurdling event in the National Hunt calendar. Its list of winners features many of the most highly acclaimed hurdlers in the sport's history, and several of these, such as

National Spirit ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. Its semantic field corresponds to English ghost, spirit, mind, intellect. Some English translators resort to using "spirit/mind" or "spirit (mind)" to ...

Istabraq Istabraq (born 23 May 1992) is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who was most famous for his hurdling. He won the Champion Hurdle on three occasions. He was trained by Aidan O'Brien and owned by John Patrick McManus. Jockey Charlie Swan ...

, Hatton's Grace, Persian War and Lanzarote, have had races named in their honour. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online gambling operator

Unibet Unibet provides a platform for sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker to over 11 million customers in over 100 countries. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Ca ...

, the race is now known as the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

History

The first Champion Hurdle was run in 1927, and its inaugural winner, Blaris, was awarded prize money of £365. In its second year the event was won by

Brown Jack Brown Jack (1924–1948) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that raced over hurdles and then on the flat. He was a "stayer" – a horse specialising in longer races. He won the second Cheltenham Champion Hurdle in 1928, but his main claim to fam ...

, who subsequently became a prolific winner of long-distance flat races. The Champion Hurdle was abandoned in 1931 due to persistent frost, and in 1932 it was contested by just three horses – the smallest field in its history. The race was cancelled twice during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1943 and 1944. The 1947 renewal paved the way for a golden era in the Champion Hurdle with just 3 winners until 1955 –

, Hatton's Grace and Sir Ken, all of them etched into the list of greatest ever hurdlers. Even though it was postponed twice because of winter snows, taking place in mid-April, it proved most popular with a record attendance at that time of 30,000 racing fans. The winner

became the second horse to retain the

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

crown while the

runner-up {{Short pages monitor