Horses must be four years old or older to compete in the Grade 3 National Hunt hurdle race known as the Heroes Handicap Hurdle in Great Britain.

The Heroes Handicap Hurdle is a Grade 3 race over three miles at Sandown Park in late January or early February.

The race has been won by some high class stayers including Taberna Lord (1987), Trainglot (1993, 1996), Baracouda (2004), Topofthegame (2018) and Green Book (2022, 2023).

This race is one of the important races in February.

Find out more about the Heroes Handicap Hurdle:

Heroes Handicap Hurdle

Race Overview – Heroes Handicap Hurdle

There are twelve hurdles to clear during the race, which is raced at Sandown Park over a distance of around 2 miles and 7 and a half furlongs (2 miles 7 furlongs and 98 yards, or 4,716 metres).

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Heroes Handicap Hurdle Previous Result

Check out the latest result from this race:

Famous Heroes Handicap Hurdle Winners

The Heroes Handicap Hurdle was established in 1986 with victory going to Hooray Henry. The following year the race went to Taberna Lord, trained by Jim Wilson and ridden by Luke Harvey. He won the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival, a race that Wilson had won three times as a jockey aboard the veteran Willie Wumpkins.

1993 winner Trainglot was trained by Jimmy Fitzgerald and he became the first dual winner when winning for a second time in 1996. He also won the Coral Cup at Cheltenham in 1996 while 2000 winner Rubhahunish was another horse to go on to win at the festival, taking the Pertemps Final in the same season.

Baracouda won this race for Francois Doumen in 2004 with 11st 12lbs on his back. He was Champion Stayer with two World Hurdle victories (2002, 2003), four Long Walk Hurdles (2000 – 2004), two Long Distance Hurdles (2003, 2004) and two Ascot Hurdles (2001, 2002). Topofthegame (2018) was trained by Paul Nicholls and he finished runner-up in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham. He was then put over fences and won the 2019 RSA Chase. The Venetia Williams-trained Green Book became the second dual winner in 2022 – 2023.

Key Heroes Handicap Hurdle Trials

The Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at Kempton has provided four of the last eight winners. Two of them had been placed in the Lanzarote while only one of the eight winners had won on their latest start. The race has strong ties with the big staying handicaps the Cheltenham Festival, the Pertemps Final and the Coral Cup. Topofthegame was the most recent winner to contest either of those races, finishing runner-up in 2018.

Only one favourite has been successful in the Heroes Handicap Hurdle in the past eight seasons. Topofthegame was 11-2 favourite while Green Book returned as 6-1 third favourite for both of his recent victories. The longest priced winner during the last eight renewals was 20-1 chance Invicta Lake in 2015, trained by Suzy Smith and ridden by Tom O’Brien. Only five horses have carried more than 11 stone to victory in the history of this race.

Heroes Handicap Hurdle – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Paul Nicholls has trained the winner a record four times; Taranis (2007), The Tother One (2008), Beshabar (2010) and Topofthegame (2018). Venetia Williams has won it three times, twice with Green Book and also with Chief Yeoman (2009). Philip Hobbs and Jimmy Fitzgerald also have three victories. Richard Johnson leads the jockey statistics with three winners; Chopneyev (2003), Kilcrea Kim (2011) and Saddlers Encore (2016).

Facts about the Heroes Handicap Hurdle

  • The Heroes Handicap Hurdle is a Grade 3 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older.
  • The event is held annually at Sandown Park in late January or early February.
  • The race was first run in 1986.
  • The Heroes Handicap Hurdle is run over a distance of around 2 miles and 7 and a half furlongs, and there are 12 hurdles to be jumped.

Summary of the Heroes Handicap Hurdle

Thank you for reading our Heroes Handicap Hurdle guide.

We hope you found all the information you need for this race in our review.

You can find more February horse races by checking out our guide.

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