The Persian War Novices’ Hurdle is the first Grade 2 race of the 2024/2025 National Hunt season and this years race looks set to be a terrific renewal, mainly due to the fact that our very own Handlethekettle is set to line up in the race!
As we prepare for this year’s renewal, we wanted to guide you through the recent history of the race, including some of the big-name winners over the years, plus some of the recent trends of the winners.
Trainer Jamie Snowden is set to target Handlethekettle at this years renewal – if you would like to purchase shares in Handlethekettle, you can do so for just £60 per share HERE.
HANDLETHEKETTLE
- RC Syndicate VIII
- Jumps
- 5yo
- Gelding
- 2500 Shares
Handlethekettle is an impressive 5-year-old gelding in training with Jamie Snowden in Upper Lambourn. Having made a winning start to his Racing Club career when running out a cosy winner at Worcester on stable debut, he has since finished fifth in the Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle.
HISTORY OF RACE
The race is named after Persian War, the three-time Champion Hurdle winner, who was trained near to Chepstow Racecourse by trainer Colin Davies. The race was first run in 1970, but it was first run at Chepstow in 2000, with Mark Pitman’s Monsignor coming out on top. Notable trainers to target the race include Paul Nicholls, who has won the race a record nine times, Philip Hobbs (five-time winner) and Nigel Twiston-Davies (four-time winner). The leading jockey’s in the race are John Francome, Carl Llewellyn and Harry Cobden, who have each ridden three winners of the race.
BIG-NAME WINNERS
There have been plenty of National Hunt stars to have won the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle, and it’s hard to whittle down the top winners. Plenty of horses have won this race and gone on to further glory, but here’s our top three big-name winners over the years.
Reve De Sivola
Having failed to win in his first season over hurdles, Reve De Sivola made light work of gaining that first win in his second season, running out a clearcut winner of the 2009 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle. The race was seen to be a two-horse race in the betting, between Reve De Sivola (6/5 favourite) and Paul Nicholls’ Aiteen Thirtythree (11/8), but there was quite clearly only ever going to be one winner once the race got underway. Reve De Sivola only took the lead approaching the last, but he pulled clear to win by nine lengths over runner-up Frascati Park, leaving the other four runners well behind. The winner went on to land two Grade 1’s that season – the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury and the Champion Novices’ Hurdle at Punchestown. Connections opted to then send him over fences, where he went on to win another four Grade 1’s, including an incredible hat-trick of victories in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.
Silviniaco Conti
One of the best horses Paul Nicholls ever trained, Silviniaco Conti gained his first graded victory in the 2010 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle. Despite winning his stable debut by 29 lengths, he was sent off as the 7/2 third favourite, but could’ve been called the winner a long way out. After tracking the leaders throughout the race, he took up the lead approaching three out and stayed on strongly to win the race by 10 lengths, finish well clear of the runner-up Captain Chris. Silviniaco Conto went to win a further 12 graded races, including an impressive 7 Grade 1’s. The highlight of his career has to be winning successive King George VI Chases at Kempton in 2013 and 2014, and having amassed over £1.1 million in prize money, he is arguably the greatest ever winner of the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle.
Thyme Hill
Having last won the race back in 2011 with Fingal Bay, Philip Hobbs looked to have a big chance of winning it again in 2019 with Thyme Hill, who was sent off as the 9/4 favourite. He duly obliged, staying on stoutly in the final stages to run out a two-length winner over Fiddlerontheroof. Thyme Hill went on to win the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle and the Challow Novices’ Hurdle that season, as well as winning a further three Graded races in his career. His biggest win came in the 2021 Liverpool Hurdle, where he just edged out Roksana in a thrilling finish.
LAST YEARS RACE
Last year’s renewal saw Paul Nicholls land a record ninth win in the race, with Captain Teague running out a decisive winner under a typically confident Harry Cobden ride. Sent off as odds-on favourite, Captain Teague didn’t have the cleanest round of jumping, particularly in the early stages where he made a couple of early mistakes. However, after taking the lead just before two out, he pulled clear of his rivals to run out a 9½ length winner over the runner-up Resplendent Grey. That wasn’t to be the only graded honours Captain Teague would win last season – he went on to land the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle later that year.
RACE TRENDS
When you’re trying to find the winner of this years renewal, it can often pay to look at the trends of recent winners of the race. So with that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the last 12 years and highlighted some of the key trends to help whittle down the field.
- 10/12 winners were aged 5 or 6.
- 10/12 winners had already run over hurdles.
- 9/12 winners had already won at least once over hurdles.
- 8/12 winners had previously won over 2m 3f – 2m 4f.
- 6/12 winners were rated 130+.
- Only 4/12 winners were sent off as favourite.
- Just 2/12 winners had previously raced at Chepstow before.
With trainer Jamie Snowden targeting Handlethekettle at this years renewal, we’re hopeful he can add his name to the impressive list of winners of the race. Shares are still available in Handlethekettle at just £60 HERE.
HANDLETHEKETTLE
- RC Syndicate VIII
- Jumps
- 5yo
- Gelding
- 2500 Shares
Handlethekettle is an impressive 5-year-old gelding in training with Jamie Snowden in Upper Lambourn. Having made a winning start to his Racing Club career when running out a cosy winner at Worcester on stable debut, he has since finished fifth in the Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle.
