The Grade 2 Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle (Saturday 23 February 2019) is run at Kempton over two miles. It is regarded as a trial for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, despite the last winner of this race to go on and win that race being the 1992 winner Floyd.
Other notable winners of this race include Granville Again and Sire Du Grugy, who went on to respectively win a Champion Hurdle and a Champion Chase.
Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle 10-Year-Trends
- Winners have been aged between four and eight
- Winners have been rated between 130 and 143
- Weights carried by the winners have ranged from 10-7 to 11-9
- Four of the last 10 favourites have won
- SP’s have ranged from 4/9 to 16/1
- Nicky Henderson has trained three of the last six winners
- Alan King has trained three of the last 10 winners
Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle 2019 Main Contenders
Angels Breath
Hails from the yard of Nicky Henderson who has trained eight winners of this race since it began. This point-to-point winner was highly-touted before making his hurdles debut at Ascot and he landed plenty of bets in convincing fashion. Has been disputing favouritism for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle since that success and he’s been heavily backed into favouritism to win this race on his way to Cheltenham.
Scarlet Dragon
100+ rated flat horse who earns plenty of money running in the top races on the all-weather. This is actually his second season as a novice hurdler, as he made his debut in the 2018 renewal of this race when finishing second behind the useful Global Citizen. Broke his duck over hurdles at Huntingdon last time and should give the favourite something to think about.
Bright Forecast
Trained by last year’s winning trainer Ben Pauling and he landed a big gamble on his first start over hurdles at Newbury before doubling up at Leicester. He was then put firmly in his place by Mr Fisher at Haydock last time, which means the Nicky Henderson yard has a useful form line. Could run well but may find at least one or two of his rivals possess more natural speed around a fast track like Kempton.
Brandon Castle
Has the potential to be better than his current odds for this race suggest as he was good enough to win a handicap off a mark of 95 on the flat and has taken well to hurdling with two wins. Despite that, his flat form suggests he has a few pounds to find with Scarlet Dragon.
Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle 2019 Betting Tip
Hurdle races at Kempton often favours ex-flat horses that have already shown enough speed to win decent races on the flat and the credentials of Scarlet Dragon and Brandon Castle are there for all to see. But the rumours emanating from the Nicky Henderson yard about how good Angels Breath is, and the recent money for him, suggest the likely favourite will be enhancing the already fantastic record of Nicky Hendeson in this race come Saturday.
Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle 2019 Tip
Angels Breath