Punchestown Champion Hurdle Trends Analysis

The Punchestown Champion Hurdle is the highlight of the Friday of the festival, and often the highlight of the festival itself. This year’s is due to feature Faugheen, unbeaten in 9 starts to date including four Grade 1’s and fresh from a stunning success in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. We’ll have a look at some of the most common trends:

Common Trends

10 of the last 10 winners finished in the top 3 on their last completed start

9 of the last 10 winners had run in the last 55 days

9 of the last 10 winners had won a grade 1 hurdle

7 of the last 10 winners had won more than one

9 of the last 10 winners had won at Punchestown

9 of the last 10 winners had won at the Punchestown festival

8 of the last 10 winners had run 7-15 times over hurdles

8 of the last 10 winners were second or third season hurdlers

Further Notes

9 of the last 10 winners had odds of 7/2 or shorter

Now, let’s see how this year’s runners do against the trends:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
Arctic Fire	1	1	0	1	1	1	5
Dell Arca	0	1	0	0	1	1	3
Faugheen	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
Tiger Roll	0	1	1	0	1	1	4

So, Faugheen does best here, while Dell Arca does worst. As for the further notes, Tiger Roll has only won one Grade 1 and all of the Punchestown winners won at the Punchestown festival.