Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle

The Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle is a Grade 2 race over an extended two miles at Doncaster. It is held in late January or early February and is a trial for the Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Notable past winners include 2016 Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power (2014), Vroum Vroum Mag (2017) and dual winner Lady Buttons (2019 and 2020).

Find out more about the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle:

Race Overview – The Yorkshire Mares Hurdle

Mares must be at least four years old to compete in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle.

There are eight hurdles to clear during the race, which is conducted at Doncaster over a distance of around 2 miles and a half furlongs (2 miles and 128 yards, or 3,335 metres).

Each year, the race is planned for late January or early February. The initial run was in 2008.

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Famous Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle Winners

The Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle was first run in 2008 with victory going to Nicky Henderson’s Chomba Womba.

Ireland won it for the first time in 2010 with Zarinava, trained by Jessica Harrington.

The most famous winner of the race was Annie Power in 2014, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh. She had won the Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse and the Ascot Hurdle in 2013. The mare won easily by 15 lengths at Doncaster and went for the Stayers Hurdle at Cheltenham where she was beaten by More Of That.

The following season she famously fell at the last flight in the Mares Hurdle on a day when Mullins had already won three races. Bookmakers estimated her fall had saved them from a £50 million payout. In 2015/16 she was diverted from the Mares Hurdle to the Champion Hurdle following an injury to stable companion Faugheen. Ruby Walsh made full use of her stamina by setting a good pace in the Champion Hurdle before drawing clear to beat My Tent Or Yours and Nichols Canyon.

Mullins won it again in 2017 with Vroum Vroum Mag, ridden by Paul Townend. She started at odds of 1-5 but was all out to beat Midnight Jazz by a head. She had won the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2016 but was beaten by Apple’s Jade when attempting a repeat victory.

Lady Buttons became the first dual winner of the race in 2019 and 2020. She was trained by Philip Kirby and won 15 of her 33 career starts and almost £300,000 in prize money.

Key Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle Trials

Seven of the last ten winners had won on their last outing before the Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle.

Three of the ten had already won at least once at Doncaster, although there are no specific trials for this event.

Four of the ten winners ran in the Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Vroum Vroum Mag (2017) finished second while Alasi (2012) and Lady Buttons (2019) finished fourth.

Smart Talk (2016) and Maria’s Benefit (2018) contested the Mares Novice Hurdle, finishing thirteenth and fourth respectively.

Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle Betting Trends

There have been four winning outright favourites and one successful joint-favourite in the past ten renewals. Annie Power (1-6) and Vroum Vroum Mag (1-5) landed the odds for Willie Mullins while Maria’s Benefit (10-11) and Lady Buttons (Evens) were market leaders. The latter started 6-4 joint-favourite when claiming her second victory in this race in 2020.

Only two of those ten winners did not feature in the first three in the betting. Smart Talk (2016) started at 6-1 when winning for Karl Burke and Brian Hughes.

The longest priced winner was Miss Heritage at 10-1 in 2022, trained by Lucy Wadham and ridden by Sean Quinlan.

Intense Tango (2015) is the only four-year-old to win this event. The oldest winner was Lady Buttons at the age of ten in 2020.

An official rating of 134 or higher is usually required to win this race. Annie Power was the highest-rated winner on 165, 9lbs higher than Vroum Vroum Mag (156).

Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Willie Mullins and Philip Kirby have each won the race twice.

Mullins was successful with the top class Annie Power and Vroum Vroum Mag while Lady Buttons provided both wins for the Kirby stable.

The only jockey to win this race more than once is Sean Quinlan who rode Lady Buttons (2020) and Miss Heritage (2022).

Betting on the Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle

The Yorkshire Rose Mares Hurdle was intended as a stepping-stone to the Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

No mare has yet completed the double but there have been some notable winners including Annie Power.

The fancied runners tend to dominate, although the victory of Miss Heritage bucked the trend in 2022.

Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle Previous Result

Check out the latest result from this race:

Facts about the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle

• The Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race for mares aged four years or older.
• It is run on the Old Course at Doncaster Racecourse, over a distance of 2 miles and half a furlong, and during the race, there are eight hurdles to be jumped.
• The race was first run in 2008, and it was won by Chomba Womba.

Summary of the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle

Thank you for reading our Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle guide.

It is a race that has been won by so some top-class mares over the years. We have looked at the trends, history, betting odds and tips for the race. We hope you have found all the information that you need.

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