The Cleeve Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt race run over approximately three miles at Cheltenham during Festival Trials Day in January.
Staged on the New Course, it is one of the most important British trials for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The race has an outstanding roll of honour. Inglis Drever, Big Buck’s, Thistlecrack and Paisley Park all won the Cleeve during careers that included victories in the Stayers’ Hurdle, while Lady Rebecca, Tidal Bay, Noble Yeats and Gowel Road are among its other notable winners.
Paisley Park and Lady Rebecca jointly hold the record with three Cleeve Hurdle victories.
Cleeve Hurdle Race Overview
The Cleeve Hurdle is a Grade 2 hurdle race open to horses aged five and older.
It is run over approximately three miles on Cheltenham’s New Course and features 12 hurdles.
| Race Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Race | Cleeve Hurdle |
| Racecourse | Cheltenham |
| Course | New Course |
| Classification | Grade 2 |
| Race type | National Hunt hurdle |
| Eligibility | Five-year-olds and older |
| Distance | Approximately 3 miles |
| Hurdles | 12 |
| Time of year | January |
| Meeting | Festival Trials Day |
| First running | 1983 |
| 2025 winner | Gowel Road |
| 2026 winner | Ma Shantou |
Its position in late January makes the Cleeve particularly useful for assessing the staying hurdle division before the Cheltenham Festival.
Cleeve Hurdle 2027
The 2027 Cleeve Hurdle is scheduled for Saturday 30 January 2027 as part of Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham.
The current programme retains the Cleeve as a Grade 2 hurdle over approximately three miles.
Cheltenham has stated that the detailed timings and races currently displayed for the 2027 meeting are based on the previous year’s racecard, with final information to follow.
For that reason, the exact race time and commercial title should be checked closer to the meeting.
Cheltenham’s official Festival Trials Day information can be found on the Cheltenham Racecourse website.
Cleeve Hurdle Course and Distance
The Cleeve Hurdle is run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Its distance is approximately three miles, and 12 hurdles are jumped.
Cheltenham’s New Course provides a searching test for staying hurdlers.
The circuit is left-handed and undulating, while the uphill finish places an additional emphasis on stamina.
A horse needs to conserve enough energy to maintain its effort after the final hurdle.
That can become particularly important when Festival Trials Day is staged on testing winter ground.
The Cleeve therefore provides a useful examination of several qualities required for the Stayers’ Hurdle:
- Stamina.
- Jumping efficiency.
- Cheltenham suitability.
- Ability to maintain a gallop.
- Performance under pressure.
The races are not identical tests, but the similarities explain why the Cleeve has developed such a strong connection with the Festival’s championship staying hurdle.
History of the Cleeve Hurdle
The Cleeve Hurdle was first run in 1983.
Al Kuwait won the inaugural race for trainer Fred Winter and jockey John Francome.
The original contest was run over approximately two miles and five furlongs.
Its conditions subsequently changed as the race developed into the staying hurdle contest familiar today.
The Cleeve held Grade 1 status between 1991 and 2004 before being reclassified as a Grade 2.
Its distance was increased to approximately three miles, strengthening its role as a trial for the Stayers’ Hurdle.
The 2006 renewal was staged at Sandown rather than Cheltenham.
The 2021 race was abandoned after Cheltenham’s Festival Trials Day meeting was lost to waterlogging.
The race has otherwise become an established feature of Cheltenham’s January programme.
Famous Cleeve Hurdle Winners
The Cleeve’s roll of honour includes some of the finest staying hurdlers of the modern era.
Lady Rebecca
Lady Rebecca won three consecutive Cleeve Hurdles between 1999 and 2001.
Trained by Venetia Williams and ridden by Norman Williamson in each of those victories, she became the first horse to win the race three times.
Lady Rebecca never won the Stayers’ Hurdle, although she finished third in the Festival race in 1999.
Her record stood alone until Paisley Park equalled it more than two decades later.
Inglis Drever
Inglis Drever won the 2008 Cleeve Hurdle during an outstanding career in the staying division.
Trained by Howard Johnson, he became the first horse to win the Stayers’ Hurdle three times.
His Cleeve success came before his third Festival victory later that season.
Inglis Drever helped establish the modern Cleeve as one of the clearest indicators of championship staying hurdle form.
Big Buck’s
Big Buck’s won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2009 and 2012 for Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh.
His achievements in the staying hurdle division were exceptional.
Big Buck’s won four consecutive Stayers’ Hurdles between 2009 and 2012 and built an 18-race winning sequence over hurdles.
His second Cleeve victory came shortly before the fourth of those Festival successes.
Big Buck’s remains the benchmark against which modern staying hurdlers are judged.
Thistlecrack
Thistlecrack won the 2016 Cleeve Hurdle for Colin Tizzard and Tom Scudamore.
He arrived as an emerging force in the staying division and produced another commanding performance at Cheltenham.
Thistlecrack returned to the racecourse in March and won the Stayers’ Hurdle decisively.
He subsequently switched to chasing and defeated established Grade 1 chasers in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.
His versatility makes him one of the most accomplished horses on the Cleeve roll of honour.
Paisley Park
Paisley Park won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2019, 2020 and 2022 for Emma Lavelle and Aidan Coleman.
Those three victories equalled Lady Rebecca’s record.
His first Cleeve success formed part of an outstanding 2018/19 campaign.
Paisley Park had already won the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot before winning at Cheltenham in January. He returned to the Festival in March and completed the sequence by winning the Stayers’ Hurdle.
His later Cleeve victories demonstrated remarkable consistency and longevity in the staying division.
Noble Yeats
Noble Yeats won the 2024 Cleeve Hurdle for Emmet Mullins and Harry Cobden.
He was already famous for an entirely different achievement.
Noble Yeats had won the 2022 Grand National at Aintree.
His Cleeve victory demonstrated his versatility and ability to compete at a high level over hurdles as well as fences.
A Grand National winner succeeding in a Grade 2 staying hurdle makes Noble Yeats one of the more unusual horses on the race’s roll of honour.
Gowel Road
Gowel Road won the 2025 Cleeve Hurdle for Nigel Twiston-Davies and Sam Twiston-Davies.
The experienced hurdler had run regularly at Cheltenham before his Grade 2 success.
His victory also demonstrated why rigid age trends are of limited value in staying hurdles.
Experienced horses can remain highly competitive when stamina, course suitability and current form remain intact.
Ma Shantou
Ma Shantou won the 2026 Cleeve Hurdle for Emma Lavelle and Ben Jones.
His victory gave Lavelle another major success in a race she had already dominated with Paisley Park.
The result also added another modern winner to the evidence available when assessing how the Cleeve is developing.
Recent renewals should carry more weight in current race analysis than fixed statistics built around a much older sample.
Recent Cleeve Hurdle Winners
| Year | Winner | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ma Shantou | Emma Lavelle | Ben Jones |
| 2025 | Gowel Road | Nigel Twiston-Davies | Sam Twiston-Davies |
| 2024 | Noble Yeats | Emmet Mullins | Harry Cobden |
| 2023 | Gold Tweet | Gabriel Leenders | Johnny Charron |
| 2022 | Paisley Park | Emma Lavelle | Aidan Coleman |
| 2021 | No race | — | — |
| 2020 | Paisley Park | Emma Lavelle | Aidan Coleman |
| 2019 | Paisley Park | Emma Lavelle | Aidan Coleman |
| 2018 | Agrapart | Nick Williams | Lizzie Kelly |
| 2017 | Unowhatimeanharry | Harry Fry | Barry Geraghty |
| 2016 | Thistlecrack | Colin Tizzard | Tom Scudamore |
| 2015 | Saphir Du Rheu | Paul Nicholls | Sam Twiston-Davies |
| 2014 | Knockara Beau | George Charlton | Jan Faltejsek |
| 2013 | Reve De Sivola | Nick Williams | Richard Johnson |
The 2021 renewal was abandoned because of waterlogging.
Cleeve Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle
The Cleeve is one of the most important trials for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The connection is logical.
Both races are run over approximately three miles at Cheltenham and test many of the same qualities.
Inglis Drever, Big Buck’s and Thistlecrack are among the horses to win the Cleeve before winning the Stayers’ Hurdle in the same season.
Paisley Park completed the double in 2019.
That history gives Cleeve form genuine significance.
It does not mean the winner should automatically be backed for March.
Ground conditions can change substantially between January and the Festival.
The composition and pace of the field can also differ, while Irish-trained horses who did not contest the Cleeve can add considerable strength to the Stayers’ Hurdle field.
The most useful approach is to assess how the horse won rather than simply recording that it won.
What Makes the Cleeve a Useful Festival Trial?
The Cleeve gives horses experience of Cheltenham only weeks before the Festival.
That is particularly valuable because the racecourse presents distinctive demands.
Course Experience
Cheltenham is not a neutral racecourse.
Its undulations and uphill finish can suit some horses better than others.
A strong Cleeve performance confirms that a horse can handle those characteristics.
Stamina
Three-mile hurdle races place a significant emphasis on stamina.
The Cleeve can become particularly demanding on soft ground.
A horse finishing strongly through the final stages provides useful evidence for the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Jumping
Staying hurdlers still need to jump efficiently.
A horse repeatedly losing momentum at its hurdles can waste energy that becomes increasingly valuable late in a three-mile race.
Watch how a runner jumps when pressure increases rather than judging technique solely from the early stages.
Pace
A slowly run three-mile race can produce a very different result from a strongly run contest.
A tactical Cleeve may favour horses with more speed.
A sustained gallop places greater emphasis on stamina.
Our horse racing pace bias guide explains why the way a race develops can affect the result.
The Long Walk Hurdle and Cleeve Hurdle
The Long Walk Hurdle is another major race in the British staying hurdle programme.
Staged at Ascot in December, it comes at a natural point before the Cleeve in late January.
Several leading staying hurdlers have used both races.
Big Buck’s, Reve De Sivola, Thistlecrack, Unowhatimeanharry and Paisley Park all demonstrated the strength of the route during their careers.
The two races should not be treated as identical tests.
Ascot and Cheltenham have different course characteristics.
Ground conditions can also change significantly between December and late January.
That makes the Long Walk valuable form rather than an automatic Cleeve predictor.
How to Analyse the Cleeve Hurdle
Start with the strength of each horse’s current form rather than trying to find a runner that matches a historic statistical profile.
Our guide to analysing a horse race covers the wider process.
For the Cleeve, several factors deserve particular attention.
Staying Ability
Three miles around Cheltenham requires proven stamina.
Look beyond the bare distance of previous races.
Consider whether the horse finished strongly, weakened late or appeared to have additional stamina available.
Cheltenham Form
Previous course form is useful but should not become a rigid rule.
A horse with strong Cheltenham performances provides evidence that it handles the track.
A horse without previous Cheltenham experience should not automatically be rejected.
Current Form
Staying hurdlers often remain competitive for several seasons.
That means reputation can sometimes influence the market long after a horse has reached its peak.
Assess current performances rather than relying on achievements from earlier campaigns.
Ground
January conditions can range considerably.
Some staying hurdlers improve as the ground becomes more testing, while others are more effective on a sounder surface.
Our horse racing going guide explains how ground conditions affect different types of horses.
Jumping
A three-mile hurdle gives horses numerous opportunities to gain or lose small amounts of ground.
Repeatedly slow jumps can have a cumulative effect.
Fluent jumping can allow a horse to conserve energy while maintaining its position.
Race Fitness
The Cleeve is an important target but also sits within the build-up to the Festival.
Consider how recently each horse has raced and whether its previous run suggests it should be approaching peak condition.
Cleeve Hurdle Betting
The Cleeve often attracts established staying hurdlers alongside horses attempting to move into championship company.
That creates an interesting betting problem.
Established horses provide stronger evidence of their ability but may have less scope to improve.
Younger or less exposed stayers can progress rapidly but bring greater uncertainty.
The market can also place considerable weight on reputation.
A former Grade 1 winner is not automatically the best bet if its recent performances have declined.
Similarly, an improving horse should not be dismissed simply because it lacks the same established profile.
Compare:
- Current form.
- Strength of opposition.
- Proven stamina.
- Cheltenham form.
- Ground preference.
- Jumping.
- Likely pace.
- Fitness.
- Scope for improvement.
- Available price.
The objective is not simply to identify the horse with the strongest career record.
It is to determine which runner has the best chance under the conditions of the current race and whether its odds represent value.
Should You Follow Cleeve Hurdle Betting Trends?
Historical trends can provide context, but fixed statistics quickly become outdated.
Older versions of this page highlighted figures such as the number of favourites to win the previous 11 renewals and the proportion of winners with earlier Cheltenham form.
Those numbers change every season.
They can also create a false impression that the Cleeve follows a permanent statistical formula.
Knockara Beau demonstrated the danger of that approach when winning at 66/1 as an 11-year-old in 2014.
More recent winners have also come from different backgrounds.
Gold Tweet arrived from France, Noble Yeats was better known as a Grand National-winning chaser and Gowel Road was an experienced hurdler who had spent years competing at Cheltenham.
The modern evidence supports a more flexible approach.
Use trends to understand the race, not to eliminate runners mechanically.
Age and the Cleeve Hurdle
The Cleeve has been won by both developing stayers and experienced veterans.
Knockara Beau became the oldest winner when successful as an 11-year-old in 2014.
Paisley Park won his third Cleeve at the age of ten.
That matters because staying hurdlers can retain their ability later in their careers than horses competing in some speed-focused divisions.
Age should therefore be assessed alongside current performance.
An older horse showing clear signs of decline presents a concern.
An older horse continuing to produce competitive ratings and strong finishing efforts should not be dismissed purely because of its age.
Leading Cleeve Hurdle Trainers
Several trainers have established strong records in the race.
Venetia Williams trained Lady Rebecca to win three consecutive renewals between 1999 and 2001.
Paul Nicholls won twice with Big Buck’s and again with Saphir Du Rheu.
Emma Lavelle matched the three-win achievement with Paisley Park before adding another Cleeve success with Ma Shantou in 2026.
That gives Lavelle a particularly notable modern association with the race.
Trainer records can show which yards have successfully prepared staying hurdlers for this specific test.
They should remain secondary to the form and suitability of the individual horse.
Leading Cleeve Hurdle Jockeys
Norman Williamson won four Cleeve Hurdles.
Three came aboard Lady Rebecca between 1999 and 2001, while his earlier success came on Mudahim.
Aidan Coleman won all three of Paisley Park’s Cleeve Hurdles.
Other successful riders include Ruby Walsh, Richard Johnson, Tony McCoy, Tom Scudamore, Barry Geraghty, Sam Twiston-Davies and Harry Cobden.
Their presence on the roll of honour reflects the quality of horses attracted to the race.
Cleeve Hurdle 2025
Gowel Road won the 2025 Cleeve Hurdle for trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies and jockey Sam Twiston-Davies.
The experienced hurdler had already accumulated extensive Cheltenham form before recording his Grade 2 victory.
His success provided another example of an older staying hurdler remaining highly competitive at Cheltenham.
Cleeve Hurdle 2026
Ma Shantou won the 2026 Cleeve Hurdle for Emma Lavelle and Ben Jones.
The victory extended Lavelle’s outstanding association with the race following the three previous successes of Paisley Park.
Ma Shantou’s victory also continued the Cleeve’s role as an important examination of horses within the British staying hurdle division ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
Cleeve Hurdle FAQs
When is the Cleeve Hurdle?
The Cleeve Hurdle is staged at Cheltenham during Festival Trials Day in January.
When is the 2027 Cleeve Hurdle?
The 2027 Cleeve Hurdle is scheduled for Saturday 30 January at Cheltenham. The final race time and commercial title should be checked when the meeting approaches.
Where is the Cleeve Hurdle run?
The race is run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse.
How far is the Cleeve Hurdle?
The Cleeve Hurdle is run over approximately three miles.
How many hurdles are jumped?
The race features 12 hurdles.
Is the Cleeve Hurdle a Grade 2?
Yes. The Cleeve Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race.
Which horses can run in the Cleeve Hurdle?
The race is open to horses aged five and older, subject to the conditions of the individual renewal.
When was the first Cleeve Hurdle?
The inaugural Cleeve Hurdle was staged in 1983 and won by Al Kuwait.
Who won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2026?
Ma Shantou won the 2026 Cleeve Hurdle for trainer Emma Lavelle and jockey Ben Jones.
Who won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2025?
Gowel Road won the 2025 renewal for trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies and jockey Sam Twiston-Davies.
Which horse has won the most Cleeve Hurdles?
Lady Rebecca and Paisley Park jointly hold the record with three victories each.
Lady Rebecca won in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Paisley Park won in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Did Big Buck’s win the Cleeve Hurdle?
Yes. Big Buck’s won the Cleeve in 2009 and 2012 during his dominant period in the staying hurdle division.
Is the Cleeve Hurdle a Stayers’ Hurdle trial?
Yes. The Cleeve is one of the leading British trials for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Which horses have won the Cleeve and Stayers’ Hurdle?
Inglis Drever, Big Buck’s, Thistlecrack and Paisley Park are among the horses to win both races during their careers.
Did Noble Yeats win the Cleeve Hurdle?
Yes. The 2022 Grand National winner Noble Yeats won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2024.
Why was there no Cleeve Hurdle in 2021?
The 2021 Festival Trials Day meeting at Cheltenham was abandoned because the course was waterlogged.
Cleeve Hurdle Summary
The Cleeve Hurdle is one of Britain’s most important staying hurdle races outside the Cheltenham Festival.
Run over approximately three miles on Cheltenham’s New Course, the Grade 2 contest provides a valuable test of stamina, jumping and course suitability before the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Its roll of honour includes Lady Rebecca, Inglis Drever, Big Buck’s, Thistlecrack and Paisley Park.
Recent winners Gold Tweet, Noble Yeats, Gowel Road and Ma Shantou demonstrate that the race can be won by horses with very different profiles.
Its close relationship with the Stayers’ Hurdle gives the Cleeve considerable significance, but bettors should analyse the quality and circumstances of each performance rather than assuming the winner will automatically succeed at the Festival.
The next Cleeve Hurdle is scheduled for Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham on Saturday 30 January 2027.
