This Saturday’s bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso racecourse in Scotland carries a first prize of £61k – however, for the winning connections there is a bigger carrot dangling – which is a cool £100k bonus should the winning horse go into land ANY race at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
We take a look at the 18 runners that will be chasing the Morebattle Hurdle bonus in 2025 – and which ones hold entries at Cheltenham.
The Shunter Scooped The Morebattle Hurdle Bonus In 2021
It was only four years ago when we saw trainer Emmet Mullins shrewdly plot The Shunter to win the 2021 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso and then 12 days later go onto win the Plate Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
In the process, the horse scooped the £100k bonus for his then owner Paul Byrne, who actually went onto sell the horse to top Irish owner JP McManus.
Ironically, the Plate Handicap Chase is one of just five Cheltenham races that JP McManus is yet to win – if only he’d bought Thee Shunter a month earlier.
Trainer Emmet Mullins is back for ‘more-battle’ in 2025 too as he sends over his recent Dublin Racing Festival winner Vischio.
Danny Mullins rides and the horse also has entries in the Coral Cup, County Hurdle and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
In a competitive-looking renewal the best horse racing betting sites in the UK, make Vischio one of the market leaders.
Simonsig won the Morebattle Hurdle in 2012 and went onto win the Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle (Baring Bingham).
However, it’s unclear if the bonus was in place back then.
While other Kelso winners that went close at the Festival were Peddlers Cross (2011, 2nd Champion Hurdle) and We Have A Dream (2019, 2nd County Hurdle).
Morebattle Hurdle 2025 Race Details
📅Date: Saturday 1st March 2025
⌚Time: 3:30pm
🏇Racecourse: Kelso
🔄Trip: 2m
💷Winning Purse: £61,728
📺 TV: ITV / RTV
Morebattle Hurdle Runners 2025 and Their Cheltenham Entries
There are 18 entries for Saturday’s 2025 Morebattle Hurdle.
- Favour And Fortune – County Hurdle
- Tellherthename – County Hurdle
- Alnilam – County Hurdle
- Vischio – County Hurdle, Martin Pipe, Coral Cup
- Cracking Rhapsody – County Hurdle
- Milldam – County Hurdle
- Aucunrisque – County Hurdle
- Petrol Head – County Hurdle, Martin Pipe, Coral Cup
- Slugger – County Hurdle
- Gentleman Bill – County Hurdle, Martin Pipe, Coral Cup
- Ginger Mail – No entries
- Florida Dream – County Hurdle
- Cormier – County Hurdle, Martin Pipe, Coral Cup
- Here Comes Georgie – No entries
- Wilful – County Hurdle
- Old Gregorian – No entries
- N’Golo – No entries
- Rock House – No entries
When Is The Cheltenham Festival 2025?
- 🏇Tuesday 11th March 2025: Day 1 – Champion Day
- 🏇Wednesday 12th March 2025: Day 2 – Style Wednesday
- 🏇Thursday 13th March 2025: Day 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday
- 🏇Friday 14th March 2025: Day 4 – Gold Cup Day
Morebattle Hurdle Winners (Last 10 Years)
- 2024 – Cracking Rhapsody
- 2023 – Benson
- 2022 – Cormier
- 2021 – The Shunter
- 2020 – Abandoned
- 2019 – We Have A Dream
- 2018 – Cyrus Darius
- 2017 – Cyrus Darius
- 2016 – Top Notch
- 2015 – Glingerburn
