Holloway’s Hurdle

Horses four years old and older may enter the Holloway’s Hurdle, a Class 2 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain.

The Holloway’s Hurdle is a Grade 3 race for four-year-olds and upwards over two and a half miles at Ascot in January. It is a handicap hurdle which had a limited weight range until 2016.

Lough Derg won the first two runnings in 2008 and 2009 while other notable winners include Smad Place (2012) and Thomas Darby (2020).

It will take place in January every year and is a handicap race. Prior to 2016, when it was downgraded to Grade 3 classification until 2022, the race was raced as a handicap with a limited weight class.

Find out more about the Holloway’s Hurdle:

Race Overview – Holloway’s Hurdle

There are 10 hurdles to clear during the race, which is run at Ascot over a distance of approximately 2 miles and 3 and a half furlongs (2 miles 3 furlongs and 58 yards, or 3,875 metres).

Famous Holloway’s Hurdle Winners

David Pipe’s Lough Derg won the inaugural running in 2008, beating Warne’s Way under 11st 10lbs. He had won the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot on his previous outing. He repeated the performance in 2009, again under a big weight, this time defeating Group Captain by a length and a half. He won 12 of his 61 career starts with career earnings of almost £375,000.

Pipe completed a hat-trick of victories with Mamlook in 2010. He finished fourth in the valuable Totesport Handicap Hurdle next time and later won the Chester Cup on the flat. Sent off the 7-1 favourite, Richard Hughes produced him with a perfectly timed run to edge out Tastahil by a head in a driving finish.

2012 winner Smad Place went on to make his name over fences for Trainer Alan King. The grey won the Hennessy Gold Cup by 12 lengths in 2015 and the Old Roan Chase at Aintree in 2017. He ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on three occasions but never finished closer than sixth. 2020 winner Thomas Darby won the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in 2021.

Key Holloway’s Hurdle Trials

There are no obvious trial races for this competitive handicap but four of the last nine winners had been successful on their most recent outing. Only one of those nine had previous winning form in a Grade 1-3 race. Subsequent targets include the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. 2021 winner Craigneiche finished second in the Coral Cup while 2014 winner Irish Saint was third in the Betfair Hurdle next time.

Holloway’s Hurdle Betting Trends

There has only been one successful outright favourite and one joint-favourite in the past nine renewals. Rock The Kasbah started 7-1 joint-favourite when winning for Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson in 2016. Unexpected Party was clear market leader at 3-1 when winning here in 2022. Craigneiche (2021) was the longest priced winner during that period at 14-1 with Thomas Darby returning at 8-1 in 2020. Ballymoy (2019) and Thomas Darby both defied 11st 12lbs, the highest winning weight carried in the race’s short history.

Holloway’s Hurdle – Top Trainers and Jockeys

David Pipe still leads the Trainer stats after winning the first three renewals with Lough Derg (2008, 2009) and Mamlook (2010). Nicky Henderson has won it twice with Jenkins (2018) and Craigneiche (2021). Tom Scudamore rode Lough Derg to both of his victories and Richard Johnson also has two victories through Rock The Kasbah (2016) and Thomas Darby (2020).

Summary of the Holloway’s Hurdle

Thank you for checking out our Holloway’s Hurdle guide.

We hope you got everything you needed from this review.

There are more races in January that you might enjoy, so make sure you check them out.

Check out our Ascot tips page if you enjoy watching races at Ascot Racecourse.

Other Popular Horse Races in January

Here are all of January’s horse racing-related posts: