Much like the Cheltenham Festival in March, the Randox Grand National Festival offers a series of Grade 1 contests across a range of distances. The headline act for the top stamina-laden hurdlers arrives 55 minutes before the Grand National.
Named in honour of the famous northern city, the Liverpool Hurdle first appeared at Aintree in 1974. Since that time, the Grade 1 contest has amassed an impressive roll of honour, featuring the names of Lanzarote, Iris’s Gift, Thistlecrack, and Big Bucks, who came home in front on no fewer than four occasions.
Given its position on the Aintree schedule, the atmosphere in the stands is beginning to reach a fever pitch ahead of this £250,000 contest, as punters aim to back one last winner before the big race begins.
But what should we look for when assessing the Liverpool Hurdle contenders? Here, we examine the ten results between 2014 and 2024 (no race in 2020 due to the global pandemic), highlight the standout stats and trends, and pick out our best betting options for the 2025 edition.
Experience at the Top Level a Solid Pointer
The strongest trend in evidence in the Liverpool Hurdle concerns previous experience in Grade 1 company. With nine of the past ten winners having one or more previous Grade 1 appearances to their name, we are happy to begin by ruling out all those who don’t meet this demand in 2025.
Gwennie May Boy, Kitzbuhel, and West To The Bridge fall at the first hurdle, bringing our list of contenders down to 13.
Favour Graded Winners
Following our first stat, results suggest that we should favour those runners who have not only run in but won in Grade 1 company or, failing that, have at least scored at Grade 2 level.
Altobelli, Buddy One, Jimmy Du Seuil, Sounds Russian, and The Wallpark stumble at this stage, reducing the field to seven.
3-6 Week Break Ideal
Eight of the ten winners in our sample arrived after a break of 23-41 days, seven of whom appeared at the Cheltenham Festival last time out.
Hiddenvalley Lake (72 days), Monmiral (70 days), and Strong Leader (70 days) are cast aside at this stage as we reach our final four.
7-8 Year Olds Lead the Way
The Liverpool Hurdle is open to runners aged four and older but none so young has ever come home in front. Sire Du Berlais became the joint oldest winner when successfully defending his title at eleven years of age in 2023. Overall, seven-year-olds boast much the best record, whilst seven of the ten winners in our sample were either seven or eight.
Aged nine and ten, respectively, Home By The Lee and Maximilian reach the end of the road, leaving us with a shortlist of two – Teahupoo and Jetara.
Rating of Winner
The sensational Thistlecrack (2016) topped the ratings over this period with a mark of 174 following his Stayers’ Hurdle success at Cheltenham. Defending champ Strong Leader was rated just 150 ahead of his victory. The average rating of the winner over this period was 159.2.
Fate of the Favourite
Three of the ten editions in our sample were landed by the market leader, handing favourite backers a loss of £1.96 to £1 level stakes. Eight of the ten winners returned a single-figure SP, with Sire Du Berlais causing the biggest shock when scoring at odds of 16/1 in 2022.
Recommended Bets
Returning to our remaining duo, Teahupoo (163) emerges as the clear selection ahead of Jetara (146). The Gordon Elliott star is also the only runner to hit five of our key trends and looks worthy of his place atop the market.
Jetara, Home By The Lee, Strong Leader, Hiddenvalley Lake and Buddy One earn four trend ticks and merit each-way consideration. Of that quintet, the one we like best is the 2024 third-place finisher, Hiddenvalley Lake. The Henry De Bromhead runner went down by 4¾l 12 months ago but enjoyed no luck inside the final furlong and looks good value to at least hit the frame for a second time.
Recommended Bet - Teahupoo to win @ 7/4 with BetFred
Recommended Bet - Hiddenvalley Lake each way @ 10/1 with Betway
Our Top Betting Sites for the 2025 Liverpool Hurdle:
 (1).webp "10Bet")
.webp "betway")
Paul Harrison
Falling in love with racing at a young age, Paul’s passion for sports and betting took him to Salford University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with Gambling Studies. Having spent ten years in the employment of a leading bookmaker, Paul opted to go it alone and pursue his dream job as a freelance writer.
