Pipe hurdler can equal Alderbrook with Champion Hurdle victory

Moon Racer's novice status should not diminish his chance in the Champion Hurdle because nine novices have already won the race. The three most recent did so within six years in the 1990s – Royal Gait, Alderbrook and Make A Stand. Moon Racer's novice status should not diminish his chance in the Champion Hurdle because nine novices have already won the race.

Moon Racer will be trying to win the Champion Hurdle on only his third start over hurdles, but Alderbrook was equally inexperienced. Seneca had run only once over hurdles before he triumphed in 1941.

Royal Gait is remembered as much for his controversial disqualification in the 1988 Ascot Gold Cup as for his victory in the 1992 Champion Hurdle. He was brought out of retirement and scored at Cheltenham on his fourth start over hurdles. He was the first novice to win the race since Doorknocker in 1956.

Alderbrook, another classy Flat horse, had had one unplaced run in a juvenile hurdle when he won the Group 2 Prix Dollar on Arc weekend in 1994. A runaway victory in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton in February 1995 preceded a five-length victory over Large Action in the Champion Hurdle.

Make A Stand, the last novice to win the Champion Hurdle, led all the way under Tony McCoy in 1997, but he was a novice in name only. He was recording his ninth win in 12 starts over hurdles and had already landed the Tote Gold Trophy (now Betfair Hurdle) at Newbury.