The International Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong (2 miles and 179 yards, or 3,382 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in January.

History The event was established in 1963, and it was originally called the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle. The inaugural running was won by Scottish Memories, and in the following two years it was won by the Champion Hurdle winners Magic Court and Salmon Spray. Its title was changed to the Bula Hurdle in 1977, in honour of Bula, a dual-winner of the Champion Hurdle who was successful in this contest in 1972.

The first triple-winner of the Bula Hurdle was Bird's Nest, whose third victory came in 1980. This feat was matched in the late 1990s by Relkeel, a horse subsequently honoured by the naming of different race on the same card, the Relkeel Hurdle.

The online sportsbook StanJames.com sponsored the event for the first time in 2010. The International Hurdle is the second leg in the Road to Cheltenham, a Stan James sponsored series of top-class hurdles races culminating in the 2011 Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The other two races are the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle Trial. The race is now sponsored by Stan James's parent company, Unibet.

The last horse to win both the International Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle in the same season was Rooster Booster in 2002–03.

Until 2022 the race was run at Cheltenham's International meeting in December. In April 2023 the British Horseracing Authority announced that the race would be run in future at the Festival Trials meeting in January.

Records Most successful horse (3 wins): Birds Nest – 1977, 1978, 1980 Relkeel – 1997, 1998, 1999 The New One – 2013, 2014, 2016

Leading jockey (6 wins): Richard Johnson – Relkeel (1997, 1999), Rooster Booster (2002), Detroit City (2006), Menorah (2010), The New One (2016)

Leading trainer (7 wins):

Nicky Henderson – Geos (2000), Binocular (2008), Grandouet (2011), My Tent Or Yours (2017), Brain Power (2018), Call Me Lord (2019), Constitution Hill (2025)

Winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer 1963 Scottish Memories 9 Cathal Finnegan Arthur Thomas 1964 Magic Court 6 Pat McCarron Tommy Robson 1965 Salmon Spray 7 Johnny Haine Bob Turnell 1966 Sempervivum 8 Willie Robinson Fulke Walwyn 1967Abandoned due to foot and mouth outbreak 1968 Solway Sands 4 Brian Fletcher John McMurchie 1969 Celtic Gold 7 Stan Murphy Arthur Stephenson 1970 Pendil 5 Paul Kelleway Fred Winter 1971 Canasta Lad 5 Jeff King Peter Bailey 1972 Bula 7 Paul Kelleway Fred Winter 1973 Comedy of Errors 6 Bill Smith Fred Rimell 1974 Comedy of Errors 7 Ken White Fred Rimell 1975 Sea Pigeon 5 Jonjo O'Neill Gordon W. Richards 1976Abandoned due to frost 1977 Birds Nest 7 Andrew Turnell Bob Turnell 1978 Birds Nest 8 Andrew Turnell Bob Turnell 1979 Celtic Ryde 4 Martin O'Halloran Peter Cundell 1980 Birds Nest 10 Andrew Turnell Bob Turnell 1981 no race 1981 1982 Ekbalco 6 Jonjo O'Neill Roger Fisher 1983 Amarach 5 Jimmy Duggan Roger Fisher 1984 Browne's Gazette 6 Ronnie Beggan Monica Dickinson 1985 Corporal Clinger 6 Paul Leach Martin Pipe 1986 Floyd 6 Colin Brown David Elsworth 1987 Pat's Jester 4 Peter Niven Dick Allan 1988 Condor Pan 5 Charlie Swan Jim Bolger 1989 Cruising Altitude 6 Jamie Osborne Oliver Sherwood 1990 no race 1990 1991 Royal Derbi 6 Declan Murphy Neville Callaghan 1992 Halkopous 6 Adrian Maguire Mark Tompkins 1993 Staunch Friend 5 Declan Murphy Mark Tompkins 1994 Large Action 6 Jamie Osborne Oliver Sherwood 1995 no race 1995 1996 Large Action 8 Jamie Osborne Oliver Sherwood 1997 Relkeel 8 Richard Johnson David Nicholson 1998 Relkeel 9 Adrian Maguire David Nicholson 1999 Relkeel 10 Richard Johnson Alan King 2000 Geos 5 Mick Fitzgerald Nicky Henderson 2001 Valiramix 5 Tony McCoy Martin Pipe 2002 Rooster Booster 8 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs 2003 Rigmarole 5 Robert Thornton Paul Nicholls 2004 Back in Front 7 Davy Russell Edward O'Grady 2005 Harchibald 6 Paul Carberry Noel Meade 2006 Detroit City 4 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs 2007 Osana 5 Paddy Brennan David Pipe 2008 Binocular 4 Tony McCoy Nicky Henderson 2009 Khyber Kim 7 Paddy Brennan Nigel Twiston-Davies 2010 Menorah 5 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs 2011 Grandouet 4 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson 2012 Zarkandar 5 Ruby Walsh Paul Nicholls 2013 The New One 5 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies 2014 The New One 6 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies 2015 Old Guard 4 Sam Twiston-Davies Paul Nicholls 2016 The New One 8 Richard Johnson Nigel Twiston-Davies 2017 My Tent Or Yours 10 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson 2018 Brain Power 7 Nico de Boinville Nicky Henderson 2019 Call Me Lord 6 James Bowen Nicky Henderson 2020 Song For Someone 5 Aidan Coleman Tom Symonds 2021 Guard Your Dreams 5 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies 2022 no race 2022 2024 Lossiemouth 5 Paul Townend Willie Mullins 2025 Constitution Hill 8 Nico de Boinville Nicky Henderson 2026 The New Lion 7 Harry Skelton Dan Skelton

See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races

References

Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

External links Race Recordings (1971-2010) youtube.com