Mares Novices Hurdle Preview – Cheltenham Festival 2023

Check out our Mares Novices Hurdle preview and betting odds ahead of the 4.50pm race on day three at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.

Mares Novices Hurdle Preview

Luccia – Mares Novice Hurdle Favourite 6/4

The impressive Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old enters the Mares Novice Hurdle as the red-hot favourite and with good reason.

Boasting a perfect four wins from four races, the horse’s last line of form came on the 12th of February over the 2-mile ½ furlong trip in Exeter where he beat a six-horse field by eleven lengths. This mare’s four wins have come on four different tracks Warwick, Sandown, Newbury and Exeter with a cumulative margin-of-victory of forty lengths.

With that information in the bank, it’s no surprise that as the horse is set to run in Cheltenham for the first time Luccia is doing so as the red-hot 13/8 favourite.

Lot of Joy – Mares Novice Hurdle Second Favourite 5/1

The leading market fancy from the W-P Mullins team and the main challenger to Luccia is five-year-old Lot of Joy. She originally raced in Scandinavian countries Norway and Sweden before moving to Ireland and W-P Mullins stable in July 2022.

Across countries, the horse has a record of three wins, five seconds and three-thirds from fourteen runs. That makes for a record of top threes in the field of 78% of her races. The horse was last seen on track on the 8th of February in Fairyhouse where she won over the 2-mile trip and in the process beat a fifteen-horse field by a strong twelve lengths.

You can back Lot Of Joy at 5/1 to claim the Mares Novices Hurdle.

You Wear It Well – 10/1

The six-year-old is trained by Jamie Snowden and is likely to be ridden out by Gary Sheehan for the Mares Hurdle. This mare’s last time out was when she ran on the 16th of February in Sandown over the 2-mile 4-furlong trip.

In that race she beat a five-horse field by 7.5 lengths, making it a career record of four wins and two seconds from six races. Can the horse make it two wins on the bounce and win at Cheltenham?

You Wear It Well is currently priced at 10/1 to do that.

Magical Zoe – 12/1

The five-year-old trained by Henry De Bromhead could prove to be a value bet in the Mares Novices Hurdle market. The horse is unbeaten so far with three wins from three races across three tracks with a cumulative margin-of-victory of nine lengths.

Last time out she won on the 4th of November in Navan over the 2-mile 1-furlong trip. Over that trip in Navan she beat a ten-horse field by one length after returning from a 62-day break from the track.

Magical Zoe is 12/1 to win the Mares Novice Hurdle.

Princess Zoe – 14/1

The veteran amongst the market leaders is the eight-year-old Anthony Mullins trained horse Princess Zoe. Her last outing on the track came on the 30th of January in Punchestown where she won over the 2-mile 4 ½ furlong trip.

That victory came courtesy of a dead-heat against a nine-horse field after returning to racing after 99 days off. This break proved to be crucial to ending the horse’s five runs without a victory stretch.

This mare’s career record from thirty-five runs is nine wins, eight seconds and three-thirds. Princess Zoe is 10/1 to win the Mares Novice Hurdle at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.

Click Below For All Our Mares Novices Hurdle Betting Odds

*Prices subject to fluctuation

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