The Triumph 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 The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

aged four years. It is run on the New Course at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong (2 miles and 179 yards, or 3,382 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is for juvenile

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has ...

hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during 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 Rac ...

in March. It is the leading event in the National Hunt calendar to be exclusively contested by juveniles, and it is the opening race on the final day of the Festival.

History

The event was established in 1939, and it was originally held at

Hurst Park Hurst Park Racecourse was a racecourse at Moulsey Hurst, West Molesey, Surrey, near the River Thames. It was first laid out in 1890 and held its last race in 1962. There was racing at nearby Hampton for many years until 1887. The first meeting a ...

in Surrey. During the early part of its history it was regularly contested by horses trained in France – six of the first seven winners were French-based. The

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

jockey

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest f ...

achieved one of his twenty hurdle victories in this race in 1954. Hurst Park closed in 1962 and the Triumph Hurdle was not run in 1963 or 1964. The race was transferred to Cheltenham in 1965, and for a period thereafter it was sponsored by the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

. It was initially held during the venue's April meeting, but it became part of the Festival in 1968. The Elite Racing Club took over the sponsorship in 1997, and JCB became the sponsor in 2002. Winners of the Triumph Hurdle often go on to compete in subsequent editions of the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt 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 ...

. Four horses have achieved victory in both events – Clair Soleil, Persian War, Kribensis and Katchit.

Records

Leading jockey (5 wins): *

Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival. Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997 and three years later he became the Irish Champio ...

– ''Spectroscope (2003), Zaynar (2009), Soldatino (2010), Peace And Co (2015), Ivanovich Gorbatov (2016)'' Leading trainer (7 wins): *

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

– ''First Bout (1985), Alone Success (1987), Katarino (1999), Zaynar (2009), Soldatino (2010), Peace And Co (2015), Pentland Hills (2019)''

Winners

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

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bbc.co.uk
– ''Hurst Park in Surrey.''
cheltenham.co.uk
– ''Media information pack (2010).''
pedigreequery.com
– ''Triumph Hurdle – Cheltenham.'' *

External links

* Race Recording

Triumph Hurdle
– ''Cheltenham Festival Fans'' {{Cheltenham Festival National Hunt races in Great Britain Cheltenham Racecourse National Hunt hurdle races Recurring sporting events established in 1939 1939 establishments in England

History

Records

Winners

See also

References

External links