Mares Hurdle Predictions, Betting Tips & Odds (Cheltenham 2025 - DAY 1)
- Written by Simon Bettarini
The Mares Hurdle is one of the newest races at the Cheltenham Festival, run over two and a half miles and, as the name would suggest, for mares only. Willie Mullins' Lossiemouth landed this race in last year's edition at odds of 8/13. This article contains our Mares Hurdle race preview with free predictions, tips, betting trends, best odds, free bets and no deposit bonuses on the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
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MARES HURDLE BETTING PREVIEW
The Mares Hurdle was first run at the Cheltenham Festival in 2008. We have seen some great winners over the past few seasons and the race quality is seemingly getting better every year. It's a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle, run over two miles and four furlongs, for fillies and mares aged four and upwards. Prize money has been boosted to £120,000 in recent years. The history of this race all revolves around the wonderful mare Quevega, who won the race six times from 2009 to 2014.
And now we take a closer look at this year's David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle and try to determine which horse is likely to prevail.
Who will win the Mares' Hurdle 2025?
Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth are the odds-on favorites here but both are entered against Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle.
BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD is a three-time Grade One winner, who has won the Morgiana and Savills Hurdles in stunning fashion this season. Gordon Elliott announced that this horse would instead run in the Champion Hurdle.
The defending champion is LOSSIEMOUTH, a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner. She beat Teahupoo in the Hatton's Grace on her reappearance, before losing out to the returning Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. She will be out to prove a point after falling as favourite during February 2's Irish Champion Hurdle.
KALA CONTI beat Kargese in the Grade Two at Leopardstown in Christmas of 2023, but was put away for the rest of the season after finishing fifth behind her rival at last year's Dublin Racing Festival. She made the most of a lenient opening handicap mark to land at Down Royal on her seasonal reappearance, before attempting to give the excellent Anzadam two pounds at Fairyhouse in November, where she finished a creditable second. She was runner-up to July Flower at Leopardstown over Christmas, giving her 5lbs that day.
JADE DE GRUGY is the number one for Closutton in the Mares’ Hurdle if Lossiemouth doesn’t run. She was a Grade 1 winner at Fairyhouse last season but only managing fourth in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle here. She has also been absent from the end of last term and recorded a comprehensive comeback victory at Punchestown, six lengths from 40-1 outsider Mousey Brown.
JULY FLOWER was 2nd in the French Champion Hurdle and bolted up in the Grade Three Mares' Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas. She then got the better of Kala Conti and Jetara in a Grade 3 event at Leopardstown on January.
William Hill Hurdle winner JOYEUSE, owned by JP McManus, will be supplemented for the 2m4f Grade 1 hurdle. She was an impressive winner of the Betfair Hurdle last month but does not qualify for any of the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival as she has only run four times over obstacles. She might lack a bit of experience but she was very professional in a big handicap last time out.
KARGESE ran in four Grade 1 juvenile hurdles last season, winning two of them. Her two defeats came at the hands of Majborough (favourite for the Arkle Chase) and Sir Gino (ruled out of the season due to an injury). Willie Mullins has given her just one run before the Cheltenham Festival. She ran well on her comeback at Ascot in January, despite finishing second to Take No Chances.
Last season Mares' Novice Hurdle winner GOLDEN ACE suffered a pulled muscle after her win in the Kingwell Hurdle, but her trainer said she had recovered well and will line-up for the Mares' Hurdle. She has class and pace to be a strong contender here.
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Dark horses?
TAKE NO CHANCES beat Royal Eagle by ten lengths in a Listed event at Wetherby, followed by a fifth behind Sir Gino in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth at Newcastle. She then put up a career-best off-top weight in the BetMGM Mares Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham's December meeting, finding Joyeuse and the unbeaten Wodhooh too good in the end.JETARA got the better of Kateira in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle at Doncaster last time out and even won a 1m4f maiden on the Flat in November. Her third behind July Flower in December was a little disappointing but her jumping was below-par and she’s probably better than that.
CASA NO MENTO was four from five over hurdles last season. In the other race, she finished second, two lengths behind Queens Gamble. This season made a bad mistake in her first run in a listed hurdle over 2m at Kempton. Her attention was turned to chasing after Kempton but jumping right throughout prevented her from getting seriously involved.
Latest Odds
At the moment, the most backed horses are the following:
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MARES HURDLE TRENDS
- 9 of the 17 favourites won (6 of those were Quevega)
- 13 of the last 17 winners had also won their previous starts before coming to the festival
- 15 of the last 17 winners had won over at least 2m4f
- 10 of the last 13 previous winners were rated at least 148
- 10 of the last 12 winners had won a Graded race before
- 6 of the last 10 winners were aged 7
- 14 of the 17 winners were Irish trained (10 by Willie Mullins)
MARES HURDLE PREDICTIONS
Read below our recommended bets on the Mares' Hurdle 2025. Feel free to copy our Cheltenham Festival predictions and get the best odds available on the market by clicking the 'Bet' button!
Ruby Walsh's Mares' Hurdle Tips
Cheltenham Festival’s winning-most jockey turned TV pundit Ruby Walsh has shared his Mares' Hurdle tips.
"The hope was that LOSSIEMOUTH would turn into a Champion Hurdle horse, but she hasn’t really proven it, so this looked the obvious option. I think she’ll win but it looks a stronger race than last year. Kala Conti shouldn’t be discounted.
A mare that did impress me at Christmas was July Flower (who beat Kala Conti at Leopardstown) who came from a long way off the pace. She has some really good form in France last year."
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2025 CHELTENHAM DAY 1 TIPS AND PREDICTIONS
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MARES' HURDLE FAQs
What is the distance of the Mares' Hurdle?
The Mares' Hurdle is run on a distance of 2 miles, 3 furlongs and 200 yards
How many obstacles are jumped in the Mares' Hurdle?
There are 9 obstacles to jump for the Mares' Hurdle runners
What time is the Mares' Hurdle?
The Mares' Hurdle is the 4th race run on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival. That falls on Tuesday March 11, 2025 and the official starting time is 3:20pm.
What is the prize money for the Mares' Hurdle?
The total prize money on offer for the Mares' Hurdle at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival will be £120,000.
Who won the Mares' Hurdle last year?
Last year's renewal was won by Lossiemouth at SP of 8/13f trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend.
What weights are carried for the Mares' Hurdle?
11 st 5 lb (5yo+). 10 st 10 lb (4yo).
Who is the leading jockey in the Mares' Hurdle?
Ruby Walsh rode 8 winners in the last 12 years before retirement. All 8 of these winners was for Willie Mullins. Paul Townend took over that Ruby Walsh's position and won his second Mares' Hurdle race last year with Lossiemouth. Rachael Blackmore has won two of the last 5 editions (Honeysuckle in 2020 and 2023). Harry Skelton is another jockey worth noting with a winner (Roksana in 2019) and two places from five rides in the race.
Who is the leading trainer in the Mares' Hurdle?
Willie Mullins has dominated the race to date, albeit Quevega represents 6 of his 10 wins. Nicky Henderson (2022), Denise Foster (2021), Henry De Bromhead (2020 and 2023), Dan Skelton (2019), Gordon Elliott (2017), and Donald McCain (2008) have trained the other seven winners.
