We have a maximum field for this year’s valuable Betfair Hurdle.

Heavy ground is the biggest factor to take into consideration in this renewal, though we have a much better weather outlook for Saturday. The field goes over the extended two-mile trip as usual, with eight hurdles to take around Newbury en route.

There’s a £155,000 prize fund these days for a race won in the past by Persian War, Make A Stand, Landing Light, Zarkandar and My Tent Or Yours.

Recently, a horse has won this race carrying 10st5lbs but those carrying 10-9 and above have come to the fore, meaning the classier types tend to win this. Mitigating that is the heavy ground we now have which logically would mean a nice racing weight could be an advantage.

Those aged 5-7 tend to win this race, the last two winners in fact have been seven but before that it was all about the five and six-year-old old-and-coming types.

With all of those factors and more taken into account, these are our shortlisted six for the Betfair Hurdle: 

Main Contenders

Altobelli 

Carrying 11-6 on Saturday is Harry Fry’s Altobelli, a six-year-old in grand form over hurdles.

After two opening wins, he was down the pack at Aintree when highly tried in April but since then he has done very well in two placed efforts at Ascot. In November he was second in a good race behind Knickerbockerglory before running third to Luccia (see below) in the Betfair Trophy.

Pound for pound we reckon his best run was that second in November and that was on pretty soft ground, something he’ll encounter again here.

Iberico Lord

We’ve backed six-year-old Iberico Lord on this column before, only to lose out before he won the Greatwood at Cheltenham in November.

He is definitely a young hurdler going places and he is improving sharply, at least overall. After going 1-2-1 in Britain on soft or heavy ground, he was beaten last time behind Luccia. The ground that day was a little too lively and it cannot be forgotten that he was 11/4 favourite to win that day.

Back on this sort of ground we reckon the improvement continues and that will make him very hard to beat under Nico de Boinville.

Lookaway

Lookaway’s form since May 2023 is 11122, a fine record and not against easy opposition either.

Neil King’s runner does carry a lot of weight based on that form but if he continues on his upward curve then he has a major shot. He can go well in this sort of ground and has the class required to win again off a mark of 137, though on the downside he is the only 7yo on our list and is a little more exposed than some of the others.

Luccia 

Luccia, trained by Nicky Henderson, is the above-mentioned winner of the Betfair Trophy from seven weeks ago when she had several of today’s opposition in behind.

She’s a good one, but she was well beaten before that on softer ground behind Iberico Lord and she carries topweight in this race also.

Ocastle Des Mottes 

This is the talking horse for this race, but not the form horse. Ocastle Des Mottes, a French import, is on this list based on potential. In terms of his odds (he has been favourite all week), it’s that potential and Willie Mullins’ form at the Dublin Racing Festival that has done it.

In winning a couple of races at Auteuil he’s done alright. Based on his form there however, Mullins will have to work some magic on him to win what is a very competitive race indeed. Daryl Jacob takes the ride for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Spirit D’Aunou 

Gary Moore’s Spirit D’Aunou is a single-figure price for this race following some good form.

He’s five from 7 over hurdles now including on heavy ground having won at Sandown in December. Natural improvement gives him a big chance here, though he does carry 11st13lbs which is no easy task.

Summary

As always then, this is a huge betting race and a fascinating one to boot.

We see solid chances in the shapes of Altobelli and Lookaway, but for us JP McManus’ IBERICO LORD is clear and can be backed to score.

Nicky Henderson gets some stick, quite rightly in most cases, for not racing his best horses enough but he may enjoy a very big Saturday win with this horse who will surely be seen again at the Cheltenham Festival in 4½ weeks’ time.