Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle

The Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle is a Grade 1 hurdle race run over 2 miles, 3 furlongs and 200 yards on the Old Course at Cheltenham in March. As the name suggests, the race is restricted to mares, aged four years and upwards, and is currently scheduled as the fifth race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.

The Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle is a relatively recent addition to the Festival programme, having been inaugurated in 2008, although it was switched from the New Course to the Old Course, and from the last day to the first, the following year. Initially a Grade 2 contest, the race was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2015.

The Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle is officially registered as the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle, in memory of the late David 'The Duke' Nicholson, who died of a heart attack in 2006. Nicholson was a successful National Hunt jockey and an even better trainer; he saddled 17 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, including the 1988 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Charter Party, and won the National Hunt Trainers' Championship twice, in 1993/94 and 1994/95.

Willie Mullins is the most successful trainer in the history of the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle, thansk in no small part to the prolific Quevaga, who won six consecutive renewals between 2009 and 2014. Mullins added Glens Melody (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016) and Benie Des Dieux (2018) for a total of nine wins altogether. Looking forward to the 2023 renewal, due off at 4.10pm on Tuesday, March 14, former champion hurdler Epatante, trained by Nicky Henderson, currently heads the ante-post betting, but is closely attended by the promising Brandy Love, trained by Willie Mullins.

Paul Nicholls

Paul Nicholls announced his arrival at the top table of British National Hunt trainers at the 1999 Cheltenham Festival, where he saddled three winners – Flagship Uberalles in the Arkle Challenge Trophy, Call Equiname in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and See More Buisness in the Gold Cup – to collect the leading trainer award for the first time.

Following the turn of the century, he went on to dominate for a period, winning the leading trainer award five more times, in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He has yet to do so again but, with 46 winners to his name, Nicholls remains the third most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival.

Nicholls has won the Queen Mother Champion Chase six times, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Stayers' Hurdle four times apiece and the Champion Hurdle once. His most famous Cheltenham winner was Kauto Star, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009, on the latter occasion becoming the first horse to regain his title after being beaten by stable companion Denman in the 2008 renewal. Other notable Nicholls-trained Festival winners have included Big Buck's, who won the Stayers' Hurdle a record four years running in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and Master Minded, who record back-to-back victories in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2008 and 2009.

Willie Mullins

Perennial Irish National Hunt Trainer since 2007/08 and the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins needs little or no introduction to anyone with more than a passing interest in horse racing. The son of Paddy Mullins, trainer of the legendary Dawn Run, Willie Mullins began training in his own right in 1988 and saddled his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Tourist Attraction, in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in 1995.

In just over two-and-a-half decades since, Mullins has not only won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle another six times, to become the leading trainer in the history of that race, but has also won the leading trainer award at the Cheltenham Festival eight times. Mullins' name has also become synonymous with the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, which he has won eleven times, and the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle, which he was won nine times, including six in a row with the incomparable Quevega between 2009 and 2014.

All told, Mullins has saddled 78 winners at the Cheltenham Festival but, despite winning the Champion Hurdle four times and the Stayers' Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup twice apiece, he has yet to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase. However, it was not until 2019 that Mullins saddled his first Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Al Boum Photo, who duly defended his title in 2020, so hope springs eternal for the Closutton trainer.

Cheltenham Races (1935)

A walk down memory lane!