General Chat

[Rooster Booster]

I understand from the jockey club press release that all horse require 5 runs for open handicap hurdles and 4 runs for open handicap chases.

The post from bucking the trend, which cod says is what jake price posted in December, implies non novices are only required 3 runs.

Am I going blind …I must be what are the 4s after the chases and 5s after the hurdles in Btts post I need to go back to school

[AaronLad]

Am I going blind …I must be what are the 4s after the chases and 5s after the hurdles in Btts post I need to go back to school

What he thinks are just novice requirements

[AaronLad]

Qualifying runs for Festival Handicaps


There has been a lot of questions about the number of qualifying runs required for Festival Handicaps. Below is my understanding of how many runs you need to qualify for each Handicap at the Cheltenham Festival. Happy for some smarter than I to double check and confirm, or correct, as the case may be.

All Non-Novices require 3 runs to qualify for a Class 1 or 2 Handicap Hurdle/Chase.

For Novices the number of runs required are :

Ultima - 4 runs
Boodles - 3 runs (Novice only)
NH Chase - 3 runs (Novice only). 0-145
Coral Cup - 5 runs
Cross Country - 4 runs
Grand Annual - 4 runs
Turners Novice Handicap - 3 runs (Novice only). Not limited to 145.
Pertemps - 5 runs
Plate - 4 runs
Kim Muir - 4 runs. 0-145
County - 5 runs
Martin Pipe - 5 runs. 0-145

Rooster Booster, here's some glasses

[Rooster Booster]

What he thinks are just novice requirements

Ok apologies so how many non novices have only had 3 /4 runs… in other words does it matter….which non novices are we thinking about here or us all this just for one fucking horse …pardon my french

[Rooster Booster]

Rooster Booster, here's some glasses

It’s a brain I need not glasses

[Runragged]

To clear things up, there is a BHA rule which stipulates:

All Non-Novices require 3 runs to qualify for a Class 1 or 2 Handicap Hurdle/Chase

However, AaronLad and I both agree that the Press Release quoted earlier from the Jockey Club with regards changes to the Cheltenham Festival races supersedes the above ruling just for the Festival handicaps.

[AaronLad]

Ok apologies so how many non novices have only had 3 /4 runs… in other words does it matter….which non novices are we thinking about here or us all this just for one fucking horse …pardon my french

Well I haven't been looking for any because I'm under the assumption all horses need 5.

But if I looked I'm sure there's some out there.
for example joyeuse hoses up in betfair hurdle off 123, gets raised to low 130s, only having 4 runs after the betfair, would she need another?

Poor example but in theory one that could happen

[Carnage at Taunton]

Strewth !!!
Glad I normally wait until the week before punting on handicaps.

[Runragged]

Ok apologies so how many non novices have only had 3 /4 runs… in other words does it matter….which non novices are we thinking about here or us all this just for one fucking horse …pardon my french

The topic was reignited again on another thread when talking about Anzadam (3 runs) and Kitzbuhel (4 runs). If what is quoted by Bucking The Trend is true then it means Kitzbuhel has qualified for the handicap hurdles, however, if not then he still needs another run.

[Rooster Booster]

Well I haven't been looking for any because I'm under the assumption all horses need 5.

But if I looked I'm sure there's some out there.
for example joyeuse hoses up in betfair hurdle off 123, gets raised to low 130s, only having 4 runs after the betfair, would she need another?

Poor example but in theory one that could happen

Okay so just one horse then

[Rooster Booster]

The topic was reignited again on another thread when talking about Anzadam (3 runs) and Kitzbuhel (4 runs). If what is quoted by Bucking The Trend is true then it means Kitzbuhel has qualified for the handicap hurdles, however, if not then he still needs another run.

Yes I know he was the horse I was referring to. It’s cool just trying to figure out if I need to care about this anytime soon

[AaronLad]

Okay so just one horse then

yeah one I'm not even interested in.

[Rooster Booster]

Strewth !!!
Glad I normally wait until the week before punting on handicaps.

It’s okay I’ve got the idiot proof version now …unless you are thinking of backing kitzbuhel for a handicap you can relax (or Anzadam) but if the the latter I’d say go seek therapy Aaron thinks there are others but he doesn’t know who they are ….sounds like a job for someone

[BuckingThe Trend]

Apologies if I have muddied the waters in any way. Would appear there is a question mark over the non-novices qualification criteria (is it 3 races or 4/5 races for non-novices) but we all agree on the novices criteria. Maybe Aaron Lad can provide absolute clarity when he gets a reply from his contact at the BHA Handicapping Dept.

And yes I confess I got the base data from Jake's tweet and attempted to simplify it because people were asking the question. And I was not clear.

[BuckingThe Trend]

There is definitely some ambiguity. Jake's response on this is "As far as I'm aware, a press release does not constitute a race condition" so he still believes it is 3 races for non-novices in both Open Hurdles and Open Chases.

Do you ever wish you hadn't started something !!! But would be good to get the clarity.

@Aaron Lad have you had a reply from your BHA contact ?