Archive aces: five brilliant winners of the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury

The Betfair Hurdle at Newbury is not any ordinary handicap and has an impressive roll of honour, featuring two subsequent Champion Hurdle winners. In the build-up to Saturday's race, James Stevens looks back at five of the best winners who went on to compete at the highest level

1968 Persian War

One of the all-time great hurdlers – and perhaps the race's most famous winner – Persian War won when it was known as the Schweppes Gold Trophy, carrying top weight to victory against 30 rivals. Just a month later he landed the first of three wins in the Champion Hurdle.

1997 Make A Stand

Martin Pipe's star hurdler was clearly destined for great things after his imperious win in the 1997 running of the Betfair Hurdle. It was a one-horse race as Make A Stand breezed to an easy nine-length win.

The bold front-runner followed up in the Champion Hurdle next time out, posting a similarly dazzling five-length win. Unfortunately, that Cheltenham triumph turned out to be his last.

2012 Zarkandar

Zarkandar came to Newbury having completed the Grade 1 juvenile hurdle double the previous season, but had to overcome a 316-day break. In a masterful training performance by Paul Nicholls, he was primed for the big day as he stayed on to defeat former winner Get Me Out Of Here and Sire De Grugy in fourth.

Zarkandar: popular hurdler from the Paul Nicholls teamCredit: Edward Whitaker

Zarkandar went on to win twice more at Grade 1 level and amassed an impressive £911,734 in prize-money. His biggest success was his Aintree Hurdle victory in 2013.

2013 My Tent Or Yours

When novice My Tent Or Yours lined up in the Betfair Hurdle, punters instantly latched on to him in the hope he was a Graded horse in a handicap – and how right they were.

He was a strong 5-1 favourite and always had matters firmly in control, sluicing home for a five-length win. St up to the big league, My Tent Or Yours picked up a habit of running huge races but finishing second.

My Tent Or Yours: winner of the Betfair Hurdle in 2013Credit: Edward Whitaker

Although winning twice at the top-level – the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle in 2013 – he finished second seven times, including an agonising neck defeat by Jezki in the 2014 Champion Hurdle.

2018 Kalashnikov

It had been suggested rookie trainer Amy Murphy had something special on her hands in Kalashnikov and in the 2018 Betfair Hurdle he confirmed that was true.

After finishing second to Summerville Boy in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle, he took a big step forward in the Betfair Hurdle with a dominant win. A mud-splattered Jack Quinlan emerged through the Newbury fog with his charge moving powerfully, and he put the race swiftly to bed to win by four and a half lengths from Bleu Et Rouge.

Kalashnikov: toughed it out to win the Betfair Hurdle in 2018Credit: Edward Whitaker

After his Betfair Hurdle win, Kalashnikov again had to settle for second behind Summerville Boy in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, but landed his first top-level success a year later over fences in the Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree.

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