JCB Triumph Hurdle Facts

We look at the JCB Triumph Hurdle stats

1. The JCB Triumph Hurdle was formerly run at Hurst Park and transferred to Cheltenham in 1965 on the closure of the London course.
2. JCB, which supports the contest for the seventh time this year, is only the race’s third sponsor. The Elite Racing Club was due to back the race for a fifth time in 2001 when The Festival was cancelled, while the Daily Express sponsored from 1965 to 1996. The race was originally run at the April Meeting but was transferred to The Festival in 1968.
3. The JCB Triumph Hurdle has been one of the most competitive races of The Festival. The 2006 field of 17 was by far the smallest since Connaught Ranger beat 13 rivals in 1978 - the recent introduction of the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle has meant that the JCB Triumph Hurdle now attracts the very best four-year-olds. The race regularly reached the safety factor, reduced from 28 to 24 in 2004. In fact, the 14 runners in Connaught Ranger's year probably had more to do with the transfer of the race to April following the abandonment of racing on Gold Cup day than any loss of its competitive nature. The smallest field was for its first running at Cheltenham in 1965, when seven runners took part. The largest field was 31 in 1970.
4. Since the race has been at Cheltenham, there has only once been an odds-on winner of the Triumph Hurdle. This was Attivo, owned by former BBC TV commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan, in 1973 at 4/5. The longest-priced winners were Baron Blakeney, Shiny Copper and Ikdam at 66/1 in 1981, 1982 and 1989.
5. Two horses have gone on from winning the JCB Triumph Hurdle to victory in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle. Persian War won the Triumph in 1967, and reeled off three Champion Hurdles from 1968-70, while Kribensis won the Triumph in 1988 and the Champion Hurdle in 1990.
6. The JCB Triumph Hurdle has a good record for home-trained winners. French-trained raiders won it on four consecutive occasions at Hurst Park from 1950-53, again in 1955 and with Snow Drop in 2000. There have only been six Irish successes (1977,1984,1990, 1993, 1997 and 2002). No trainer has been able to dominate the race and the late Fred Rimell and Nicky Henderson are the only trainers to have won it three times.
7. Among jockeys, Jimmy Uttley was successful three times. Fred Winter, Steve Smith Eccles and Richard Dunwoody had two winners as have current riders Richard Johnson and Robert Thornton, but perhaps the most interesting name is that of Lester Piggott, who won the race on King Charlemagne when run at Hurst Park in 1954.
8. The fastest time for the winning horse is 3m 51.20s, recorded in 2006 by Detroit City. The previous best was 3m 52.90s, set by Snow Drop in 2000.
9. It has a justifiable reputation for being one of the more unpredictable contests at The Festival - there have been three 66/1 winners and only eight successful favourites since 1965.
10. It was in the 1981 JCB Triumph Hurdle that Martin Pipe, the 15-time champion jump trainer who retired at the end of the 2005/06 season, enjoyed his first Festival success with the 66/1 shot Baron Blakeney
11. Three fillies have been successful; Snow Drop in 2000, Mysilv in 1994 and Shawiya in 1993.

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