The Pierse Hurdle, Leopardstown January 13th 2008 – Key Trends

- In the last 9 years, the going has always been yielding/soft or worse.
- Only 1 horse has carried more than 11-1 to victory in 12 years. 10 of the 12 winners in the same time frame carried 10-11 or less before jockeys’ claims were taken into account.
- 2 trainers have won the race twice since 1996 – Jessica Harrington and Pat Hughes.
- No horse rated higher than 127 has won since 1996. 5 of the last 6 winners have been rated between 114 and 117.
- No horse older than 8 has won in the last 12 years. Of the individual age groups, 6yos do best winning half of the last 10 renewals.
- Starting price hasn’t been a good guide with 4 winning favourites in 12 runnings, yet 16/1, 18/1 and 25/1 shots also coming home in front.
- Strong trend towards in-form horses. 9 of the last 12 victors had either won or finished second on their most recent outing, while only 1 of the 12 failed to reach the first five last time.
- Avoid horses that have been over-raced of late. None of the last 12 winners had run more than 4 times since the start of October. 6 of the last 7 winners had run twice or less since October 1st.
- No surprise to see a massive trend towards unexposed horses. None of the last 12 winners had run more than 9 times over hurdles. In the same time period, only 1 winner had run more than 4 times in handicap hurdles. Don’t be put off if your horse is yet to win a handicap as such a winner may ruin their mark in the process – only 2 of the last 11 winners had won a handicap hurdle before running here.
- This is a race for speed horses and horses with more stamina tend to struggle. Only 1 of the last 12 winners had won beyond 17f before running here.
- Just 1 of the last 12 winners was held up during the race.