The Adonis Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt race open to horses aged four years or older. Taking place each year at Kempton park, Adonis Hurdle runners battle it out over a distance of just over 2 miles, with eight hurdles to overcome throughout. The race takes place in mid-late February, with many trainers using the event as something of a trial for the Triumph Hurdle that takes place during day four at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Six horses have won both the Adonis Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle and the Triumph Hurdle, showing just how important it can be, especially when it comes to Adonis Hurdle betting odds. Many punters will be keeping a close eye on runners and riders at Kempton Park, with form being crucial in the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival, while there is often a dark horse worth backing too. Make sure to get the most out of your bets with Betway Cheltenham offers available for this and lots of other races.
The Adonis Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle will take place on Saturday 23rd February, with runners and riders set to battle it out at 14:05. While the official race card has yet to be announced, many big names will be looking to take over the crown from the Alan King trained Redicean, with the pre-race favourite having been too strong for the rest of the field just under 12 months ago.
As previously mentioned, many see the Adonis Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle as something of a trial run for March’s Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with many horses having won both races during the same season. This not only shows the quality of the field that can be expected at Kempton in February, but also the importance of such a race in terms of the Adonis Hurdle 2019 and Cheltenham ante-post betting.
The likes of Mysliv, Katarino, Snow Drop, Penzance and Soldatino have both won the Adonis Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle in the same year, while Punjabi backed up his 2007 win by coming out on top in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham just two years later, with Binocular repeating the feat in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
In fact, 8 of the last 12 Adonis Hurdle winners ran in the Triumph Hurdle at the next Cheltenham Festival, with two claiming victory.
The 2018 Adonis Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle was certainly an interesting race, with Redicean having looked like the complete package in overcoming Malaya and Beau Gosse to hand trainer Alan King his fourth success in the race’s history.
Redicean looked in control throughout, performing an excellent final jump to eventually win by a distance of five lengths. The 4-year-old may have only been able to finish in 6th position in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham just a matter of weeks later, however Redicean was much too strong for a competitive field in 2018.
| Place | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1 | Redicean | Wayne Hutchinson | A King |
| 2 | Malaya | Sam Twiston-Davies | P F Nicholls |
| 3 | Beau Gosse | D A Jacob | G Macaire |