The Mersey Novices' Hurdle is a Grade One

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

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 milli ...

aged four years or older. It is run at

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

, Merseyside, over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (4,023 metres), and during its running there are eleven hurdles to be jumped. The race is for

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 with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

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

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

meeting in early April. The distance of the race was cut by a furlong to its present length in 1988. For a period it was sponsored by

Mumm G. H. Mumm & Cie is a List of Champagne houses, Champagne house founded in 1827 and based in Reims, Reims, France. G.H. Mumm is one of the largest Champagne houses and is currently ranked 4th globally based on number of bottles sold. The company ...

, and it was given Grade Two status in 1991. It has had several different sponsors since 1992, and the latest of these,

Betway Betway is a British gambling company founded in 2006. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Malta, alongside satellite offices in Londo ...

, began supporting the event in 2017. The Mersey Novices' Hurdle was upgraded to Grade One by the

British Horseracing Authority The British Horseracing Authority, also known as the BHA, is the regulatory authority for horse racing in Great Britain. It was formed on 31 July 2007, after the merger of the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulatory Au ...

from its 2014 running. The Mersey Novices' Hurdle often features horses which ran previously in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, and the last to achieve victory in both races was Yorkhill in 2016.

Winners since 1976

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

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aintree.co.uk
– ''2010 John Smith's Grand National Media Guide''.
pedigreequery.com
– ''Mersey Novices' Hurdle – Aintree''. {{Race Meeting, Grand National Meeting, Turf National Hunt races in Great Britain Aintree Racecourse National Hunt hurdle races

Winners since 1976

See also

References