Why Junior National Hunt Hurdles are a great way to develop young jumpers

Junior National Hunt Hurdles, which will be open exclusively to three-year-olds from October to December and four-year-olds from January to April 2023, are a new programme of races designed to help the development of jumpers in Britain.

They are for horses who have not previously competed in a Flat race, or a jump race except for a bumper or Junior NH Hurdle, and will carry the same status as bumpers and point-to-points, in that winners will not be precluded from competing in novice hurdles the following season.

The background to their introduction is that for years British- and Irish-bred horses have regularly been beaten by French-breds in top races, causing their breeders to agonise about the source of French breeding supremacy.

More recently, British-trained horses have been defeated by Irish-trained horses at Cheltenham and Aintree. While some have wondered about the superiority of Irish trainers, others blame the effects of higher prize-money and greater competition in Irish racing.

However, both phenomena may have a common cause: it is not superior breeding, better training methods or a more competitive racing programme that gives horses from France and Ireland their advantage, but simply the way that jumps horses are raised in these countries.

What the French have been doing for years, and the Irish are increasingly practising nowadays, in racing jumps horses earlier - as three-year-old or four-year-old hurdlers in France and four-year-old point-to-pointers in Ireland - is giving them major advantages in achieving big-race success.

Horses raised in this way peak earlier but can sustain top-level performance over a long period of time.

Among French-bred horses who began racing over obstacles as three-year-olds are Kauto Star, Long Run, Al Boum Photo, A Plus Tard, Big Buck's, Master Minded, Neptune Collonges, Bristol De Mai, Clan Des Obeaux, Frodon, Min, Politologue and Vautour.

Among the ever-increasing number of successful graduates of Irish four-year-old point-to-points are Best Mate, War Of Attrition, Imperial Commander, Native River, Florida Pearl, Faugheen, Special Tiara, Shishkin, Sir Gerhard, Minella Times, Noble Yeats and the British-breds Rule The World, Honeysuckle and Constitution Hill.

Constitution Hill: another four-year-old Irish point-to-point graduateCredit: Edward Whitaker

Today, horses developed in Britain face a twin threat, from French-breds coming through via the three-year-old and early four-year-old hurdles programmes in their native country, and, increasingly, from horses who have raced in Irish four-year-old point-to-points.

To level the playing field by starting our horses earlier, we have until now had only one option – and a pretty poor one, namely to run National Hunt-breds in three-year-old bumpers dominated by Flat-breds, followed by juvenile hurdles in which they often face experienced Flat horses or those who have run in French three-year-old hurdles.

But now there is a new option – and the introduction of Junior NH Hurdles in the 2022-23 season could be a long-term game changer for British jump racing and breeding.

Why Junior NH Hurdles will help trainers

Junior NH Hurdles will have a special status in the racing programme, in some ways equivalent to bumpers. They will be open to horses who have not previously run before October 1 of the season in question, nor previously started in a Flat race (other than a bumper) or more than three hurdle races.

Accordingly, horses can run in a maximum of four Junior NH Hurdles, there being a penalty structure for previous hurdles wins.

In the 2022-23 season, ten Junior NH Hurdle races will be run for three-year-olds between mid-October and the end of December (some being for any sex and some fillies-only) and a similar number for four-year-olds from January to late April, all at Classes 2 to 4 under weight-for-age terms.

Bryan Mayoh: 'Key advantage is that wins in these races will not preclude the horses concerned from competing in novice hurdles the following season'Credit: Sarah Farnsworth / Goffs UK

Wins by British-bred fillies nominated to the Great British Bonus will generate bonuses just as they would for novice hurdles (£20,000 for British-sired fillies winning fillies-only races and £10,000 for those winning any-sex races).

A key advantage of Junior NH Hurdles is that wins in these races will not preclude the horses concerned from competing in novice hurdles during the following season, just as for bumpers. This is so that inexperienced young horses are not prematurely forced into tough competition in open company.

Ideally, potential candidates for Junior NH Hurdles will be broken, schooled and pre-trained as two-year-olds, before going into full training as three-year-olds. Accordingly, sales of two-year-old National Hunt prospects are likely to become an increasing feature of the sales programme, such as those to be held by Goffs UK later this year.

However, this being the first year of the Junior NH Hurdles programme, it is entirely possible that some initial winners are fillies still with their breeders, or three-year-old stores now being prepared for the May and June Store sales. Some may even be unraced Flat-bred horses with the potential to succeed over obstacles.

Given that all such horses should have been well handled, it should be perfectly possible to get many ready to race in Junior NH Hurdles later this year or early in 2023.

Whatever their source, the potential of these horses will be enhanced by early jumping education and by racing over obstacles. The prospects of British-trained jumps horses will be boosted when Junior NH Hurdles are viewed as an important element of their development programme, like three-year-old hurdles in France and four-year-old point-to-points in Ireland.

British trainers' choices are now as follows: they can find owners able to buy horses that have shown ability in French three-year-old hurdle races or Irish four-year-old point-to-points; carry on as before, smiling through gritted teeth when they lose to such horses; or use Junior NH Hurdles to develop their future stars.

Dr Bryan Mayoh is chairman of the TBA National Hunt Committee and co-breeder of several black-type winners, including Cheltenham, Punchestown and Leopardstown Gold Cup winner Sizing John

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