Cheltenham Festival - County Handicap Hurdle

This weighted race is run on the closing day of the festival, when five years and older horses line up to compete over within a distance of two miles and one furlong on the New Course.

It is ranked grade three by the National Hunt and has eight hurdles along the path to the lion’s share of a £90,000 purse.

How the race has remained a grade 3 event is interesting given its popularity among viewers and the tight qualifications required for horses coming into it. Big names like Trespasser have featured in
the County Handicap. It is also so tough that no horse has won it twice since 1946.

Ruby Walsh holds a record jockey record of four wins, while Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls hold a trainer record of a similar number of victories. Max Dynamite ranks ahead of Arctic Fire who won
last year’s event as 2018’s favourite. Both horses are trained by Mullins.