Pertemps Final Hurdle
The Pertemps Final Hurdle is the second race on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival. It is a listed hurdle that is open to horses aged five and above. Run over an approximate distance of 3 miles, there are a total of twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race was established in 1974, when originally sponsored by bookmaker Coral, and was called the Coral Holden Hurdle Final. The race is now sponsored by Pertemps who have done so since 2002. The race has been popular for the famous JP McManus colours, with the popular owner having had three winners in the event.
Finding The Pertemps Final Winner
As is the case with many of lower grade races the Cheltenham Festival, this listed race is tricky to decipher without knowledge of all the intended runners. We can, however, once again take a look at the history books to see some race trends and stats.
A key stat is that eight of the last ten winners have won at 3 miles or over before this race. Horses that haven’t yet tried 3 miles and are stepping up in trip are probably best avoided. We are still looking for a pretty useful horse that will win this race, the average official rating of the last six winners has been over 135. Nine of the last ten winners have been aged between six to nine. We are also looking for a horse that is still fairly lightly raced.
Of the horses that head the market there are several that will appeal, should they appear in the race. Our Father won well on soft ground over 2 furlongs and 6 miles last time, of which the form looks fairly solid, and if he was to tackle 3 miles before the festival he would be interesting. Sivola De Sivola took advantage of a lenient mark when winning well last time out over 3 miles and with only seven runs he remains unexposed. There are several others that have a similar profile, including Paint The Clouds. Once we know the runners this could be a great race to assess and find some good prices on progressive horses.
Buena Vista Doubles Up in 2011
David Pipe was celebrating in last year’s Pertemps Final Hurdle as Buena Vista recorded back-to-back wins for the trainer. It was the first time a horse over the age of nine had won in a decade, and also the first time a horse had won the race back-to-back since Willie Wumpkins rackled up a treble (1979-1981). It was a great achievement, and one which wasn’t expected given the horses 20/1 starting price. It was also a great front-running display as he held off his younger rivals.
