Who wins the 2026 Champion Hurdle?

The Champion Hurdle is a historic Grade One horse race that was first run at the Cheltenham Festival in 1927. The Champion Hurdle takes place at Cheltenham racecourse, in Gloucestershire, England.

The Champion Hurdle takes place on day one of the Cheltenham Festival. The 2026 Champion Hurdle will be run at 4:00pm at Cheltenham on Tuesday 10th March.

After both Constitution Hill and State Man fell, Jeremy Scott's mare Golden Ace picked up the pieces to claim a shock victory in the 2025 Champion Hurdle.

Brighterdaysahead got the better of Lossiemouth when the two met at the Dublin Racing Festival recently. Gordon Elliott has already confirmed Brighterdaysahead will run in the Champion Hurdle, despite a poor effort in the race 12 months ago. Lossiemouth is the highest-placed of Willie Mullins' horses in the betting, but could still run in the Mares' Hurdle for the third season in a row.

Dan Skelton's star, The New Lion is currently edging Brighterdaysahead for Champion Hurdle favouritism. Harry Skelton's mount won the Turners Novices' Hurdle at last year's Cheltenham Festival, and warmed up for his return to the Festival by winning the Unibet Hurdle on Cheltenham Trials Day.

Who will Paul Townend ride in the 2026 Champion Hurdle?

If Lossiemouth is allowed to take her chance, then Paul Townend will ride Willie Mullins mare in the 2026 Champion Hurdle. Should she head back to the Mares' Hurdle, then Townend will likely opt to ride last year's Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros over the engimatic and inconsistent Anzadam.

Read our full guide to the 2026 Champion Hurdle here on our website. You'll get the latest odds and our betting predictions in this free preview.

The Champion Hurdle is run over a distance of two miles and half a furlong. That distance equates to 16-and-a-half furlongs, or just over 3300 meters.

Nicky Henderson is the most successful trainer in the history of the Champion Hurdle. Henderson has won this Grade One on nine occasions between 1985 and 2023. Sadly, Nicky won't have a strong contender in this year's renewal, after Sir Gino was injured on Trials Day and Constitution Hill will run on the flat from now on.

The first prize for the 2026 Champion Hurdle is £253,215. The overall prize pot for this Championship race totals over £460,000.

The 2026 Champion Hurdle will be shown live on ITV Racing. If you want to watch this race live via a mobile or tablet, then take a look at the Horse Racing Live Streaming page on our website.