Mares' Hurdle 2026 Tips - Pre-season guide and selections

Jon Vine

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Last updated: Tue 25 Nov 2025 13:53

Jon Vine 25 Nov 2025

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Pre-season guide and tips for the 2026 Mares' Hurdle
Lossiemouth is the favourite to claim a hat-trick of wins in 2026
Jubilee Alpha is our ante-post selection at 33/1

Paul Townend riding Lossiemouth celebrates winning the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle. (Getty)

In a big change to the Cheltenham Festival schedule, the Mares' Hurdle has been moved to Day Three, and will now kick off a triple-header of Grade One races on St Patrick's Day.

Here's our ante-post guide to the 2026 Mares' Hurdle. In this guide, we'll take an early look at how this year's race is shaping up - looking at the latest odds, and covering the prime contenders, before picking out our best ante-post Cheltenham Festival tip based on the early odds.

2026 Mares' Hurdle Odds

Name	Odds
Lossiemouth	2/1
Wodhooh	4/1
Jade De Grugy	6/1
Kargese	12/1
Brighterdaysahead	14/1
Bar	16/1

👑 The Defending Champion 👑

Despite his claims all season long that Lossiemouth was being primed for the Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins opted for the easy option when the Cheltenham Festival rolled around. Paul Townend's mount proved a class above her rivals when winning that race in 2024, and successfully regained her crown with an equally dominant display.

Once again, Mullins has claimed that the plan is to run Lossiemouth in this season's Champion Hurdle. Yet, if performances fail to match expectations in the two-mile races in Ireland, it seems certainly that Lossiemouth will bid for a hat-trick of Mares' Hurdle victories come March.

🏆 Top Challengers 🏆

Leading the charge against the defending champion is Wodhooh. Gordon Elliott's mare extended her unbeaten record over hurdles with a dominant victory in the Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival, and switching the Mares' Hurdle from day one to day three means that this Grade One will be run over the same course-and-distance as the Martin Pipe in 2026.

With Jade De Grugy likely to go chasing this season, Kargese could end up being Mullins' second-string in the Mares' Hurdle. Willie has intimated that she too will be tried over fences, but Kargese excelled over looks like a natural hurdler to me, and this year's County Hurdle winner could benefit from a step up in trip.

🌟 Outsiders To Watch 🌟

Murcia claimed Grade One glory in the big juvenile hurdle at Aintree last spring, and Mullins will give his mare a light campaign this term. Aurora Vega roared back to top form to strike in the Grade One Mares' Novices Hurdle at Fairyhouse in April, and this daughter of six-time Mares' Hurdle winner Quevega could end up joining her stablemates in this Grade One.

Away from Closutton, Nicky Henderson will be hoping to see Aston Martini build on an emphatic Listed win on French soil in the spring, and establish herself as a Mares' Hurdle challenger. Diva Luna's sole hurdle victory as a novice came over the new Mares' Hurdle course-and-distance, and Ben Pauling's mare could progress further during her second season over hurdles.

Take No Chances will again run in all of the big mares' races for Dan Skelton this term, and could repeat her third-place finish in this season's contest. Paul Nicholls is full of admiration for Jubilee Alpha, who proved her stamina with a Listed win around Cheltenham during their April Meeting.

Mares' Novices' Hurdle winner, Air Of Entitlement will come on plenty following her runner-up finish at Fairyhouse over the weekend. Galileo Dame is a potential improver for Joseph O'Brien. Let It Rain missed the second-half of last season, and Dan Skelton seems confident that his mare can make up for lost time when she eventually makes her reappearance.

jubilee alpha — Harry Cobden riding Jubilee Alpha (blue/yellow) clear the last to win The Fitzdares Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Windsor. (Getty)

💵 Verdict 💵

Lossiemouth remains the class horse in this division, and come punters will see 2/1 as good value, as she'll likely go off at odds-on if declared for this contest. I'm a big fan of Wodhooh, and fancy she might be able to upset Lossiemouth at the Festival. However, Elliott plans to run his mare against the boys during the first half of the season, and her price is bound to drift if beaten in something like the Hatton's Grace.

Of those sitting at lengthy prices, JUBILEE ALPHA (33/1) catches the eye. Paul Nicholls' mare was fancied by many going into the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, having won a Listed race at Taunton before a valuable triumph during the Winter Millions Meeting at Windsor.

Harry Cobden's mount tanked through that Grade Two at the Festival, but was tapped for toe turning for home and her tank emptied fairly quickly. Cobden then opted for more patient tactics on her first start over two-and-a-half miles at the April Meeting, where Jubilee Alpha again travelled ominously well, before seeing out the trip strongly to score by two lengths.

In his pre-season stable tour, Nicholls said that his mare is more than capable of landing a handicap off her fresh mark of 137, and could hold her own against the boys later in the campaign. Given her victory here in April, I'd be surprised if the Mares' Hurdle wasn't the intended goal for Jubilee Alpha, and she remains open to further progress as a middle-distance hurdler.

Verdict

Jubilee Alpha is our ante-post tip for the 2026 Mares' Hurdle.

Jubilee Alpha

Mares' Hurdle 2026 Early Tips

@33/1 - 5 Units

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