Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle 2023 Trends

By Jessica Lamb  | 

Feb 4th, 2023 06:45 PM  |  4 mins

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2023 Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle Trends

Need some help finding the winner of the 2023 edition of the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle? Well, look no further because our team of experts at Bookmakers.com have done the hard work for you by pinpointing the most critical trends and pointers from the last 10 renewals in order to help you find the winner of the Cheltenham Festival’s final contest.

The last 10 winners:

• Carried at least 11st 1lb to victory
• Had an average handicap rating of 141, with four of the last five winners rated higher
• Had won 1-3 times over hurdles
• Had not won more than two handicap hurdles
• Last ran between 20-77 days ago
• Had finished first or second in at least one of their last three runs

Nine of the last 10 winners:

• Had not run more than eight times over hurdles (exception Indefatigable had run 11 times)
• Had won or been placed in a hurdle race run over 2m4f or further(Gallopin Des Champs had not run over further than 2m2f)
• Carried at least 11st 3lbs to victory (Killultagh Vic carried 11st 1lb)

The last eight winners:

• Had run in less than four handicap hurdles
• Had not won more than one handicap hurdle/li>

Key Trials in the last 10 years

Winners of this Cheltenham handicap hurdle come from all sorts of places, but the recent trend has been for the race to go to a decent novice, just short of Grade 1 class.

It therefore pays to keep an eye on Grade 3 and Grade 2 novices' hurdles, as well as paying attention to five and six-year-olds running in handicaps run over 2m4f or further.

Trainer Trends

• In the 14-year history of this contest, it’s an 8-7 split between trainers based in Ireland and Britain, although seven of the last nine have gone to Ireland.
• Willie Mullins has won the race four times, more than any other trainer, with Gordon Elliott (who worked for Martin Pipe earlier in his career), Paul Nicholls and Joseph O'Brien having all won it twice.
• Nicky Henderson has thrown a lot of darts at this race without success since winning the first running of the contest in 2009.

Jockey Trends

Because the race is for conditional riders, it is unlikely that any pilot will win it more than once. The last 10 winners were ridden by jockeys that had never previously ridden a Cheltenham Festival winner.
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How did the trends do last year?

Banbridge, who had won three hurdle races, including over 2m5f, was an obvious bet. He had been tested only one in handicap company over 2m and finished seventh, leaving him unexposed.
Gordon Elliott has a strong recent record in the Martin Pipe and his Hollow Games, who finished third, looked a very strong trends pick having found the likes of Minella Cocooner and company too hot to handle in Grade 1 company at the Dublin Racing Festival.
He looked a progressive hurdler prior to that and was already a 2m4f winner.
Chemical Energy from the same stable also looked to fit the bill, having won over 2m4f and finished second in a 2m Grade 3. He finished eighth.

Who Fits The Trends Best In 2023?

Like all Cheltenham Festival handicaps, this is tricky to predict before the entry stage, but currently there are a couple of eyecatchers that fit the trends.

The strongest trends pick at this stage is Might I, who has run in six hurdle races for trainer Harry Fry and won over 2m2 1/2f. He was second in a Grade 1 novice hurdle last April over 2m4f and was beaten just a neck in a 2m1f handicap hurdle at Cheltenham in January under conditional jockey Lorcan Murtagh, who also won on him at Newton Abbot.

Landrake, a two-time hurdle winner for one of the race's leading trainers Gordon Elliott, is yet to run in a handicap, but looks well-treated on his Irish mark of 135 and is proven over the distance, while Inothewayurthinking was unbeaten in two runs over hurdles until finishing fourth on his first run over 2m4f when stepped up to Grade 1 company.

2022 Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle Result