Formerly known as the “Hennessy Gold Cup”, the Ladbrokes Trophy is Newbury Racecourse’s biggest handicap chase of the season and is one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the early National Hunt season.
The Newbury showpiece has been won by the likes of Mandarin, Arkle, Bregawn, One Man, Denman, Many Clouds and Native River, with the race being renowned for throwing up future staying stars and Cheltenham Gold Cup winners.
In fact, since 1957, the race has been won by nine horses which have also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup - the most recent of those being Native River. It’s simply the ideal time to have an antepost bet on Cheltenham.
In the last fifteen years alone the Ladbrokes Trophy has been won by three Gold Cup winners (Denman (2007 & 2009), Bobs Worth (2012), Native River (2016) and Grand National winner Many Clouds (2014).
As these great chasing names suggest, the Ladbrokes Trophy is an important barometer for punters and connections alike for upcoming big races throughout the current season and beyond.
Ladbrokes Trophy Winners
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2020 - (6:21.10) Cloth Cap 8-y-o 10-0 9/1 (Tom Scudamore/Jonjo O'Neill)
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2019 - (6:27.40) De Rasher Counter 7-y-o 10-10 12/1 (Ben Jones (5lbs)/Emma Lavelle)
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2018 - (6:37.10) Sizing Tennessee 10-y-o 11-3 12/1 (Tom Scudamore/Colin Tizzard)
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2017 - (6:29.60) Total Recall 8-y-o 10-8 9/2F (Paul Townend/WP Mullins)
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2016 - (6:25.00) Native River 6-y-o 11-1 7/2F (Richard Johnson/Colin Tizzard)
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2015 - (6:45.30) Smad Place 8-y-o 11-4 7/1 (Wayne Hutchinson/Alan King)
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2014 - (6:48.10) Many Clouds 7-y-o 11-6 8/1 (Leighton Aspell/Oliver Sherwood)
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2013 - (6:25.94) Triolo D’Alene 6-y-o 11-1 20/1 (Barry Geraghty/Nicky Henderson)
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2012 - (6:37.24) Bobs Worth 7-y-o 11-6 4/1F ((Barry Geraghty/Nicky Henderson)
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2011 - (6:31.02) Carruthers 8-y-o 10-4 10/1 (Mattie Batchelor/Mark Bradstock)
*KEY - year, time, horse name, age, weight, odds, jockey, trainer*
Key Ladbrokes Trophy Statistics
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Age: 9 of the last 10 winners were aged between 6 and 8 years old.
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Price: 3 of the last 10 favourites have won, 4/10 winners came from the top 3 in the betting.
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Last Run: 4 of the last 10 winners won on their last run before the Ladbrokes Trophy, 9/10 winners ran within the last 57 days.
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Previous Course Form: 7/10 winners had at least one previous outing at Newbury, 7/10 winners had at least one previous win at Newbury.
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Previous Distance Form: 10/10 winners had at least four previous runs over 3 miles or further, 10/10 had at least one previous win over 3 miles or further.
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Previous Chase Form: 10/10 winners had at least four previous chase runs, 10/10 winners had at least two previous chase wins.
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Rating: 6/10 winners were rated 148 or higher.
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Graded Wins: 7/10 winners had at least one previous win in a Grade 1-3 race.
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Season Form: 9/10 winners had at least one run that season, 4/10 winners had at least one win that season.
Leading Trainers
The two most successful trainers in the Ladbrokes Trophy over the last 20 years are Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson who have won the race three times apiece.
The Nicholls winners have been Strong Flow (2003), Denman (2007, 2009), while Henderson’s scorers have been with Trabolgan (2005), Bobs Worth (2012) & Triolo DAlene (2013).
To find out which horses Nicholls may run in the race this year, it will be well worth consulting our Paul Nicholls stable tour.
Colin Tizzard has taken top honours twice in the last five years, firstly with Native River (2016), then with Sizing Tennessee (2018).
In essence this means that three of National Hunt Racing’s biggest names have been responsible for nearly half of the winners of the Ladbrokes Trophy since 2003.
Current trainers with a winner in the last 20 years include: Philip Hobbs, Evan Williams, David Pipe, Mark Bradstock, Oliver Sherwood, Willie Mullins, Alan King and Emma Lavelle.
You have to go all the way back to 2020 to find Nigel Twiston-Davies’ last winner in this – King’s Road (2020). In the intervening years, Twiston-Davies has sent a total of 23 runners to the race without recording any wins.
On an even colder trainer list for this race is Venetia Williams who last sent out the winner in 1998 with Teeton Mill, but admittedly has entered very few horses since.
Leading Jockeys
The most successful jockey in this race over the last 20 renewals is Tom Scudamore who has won the race three times, those being Madison Du Berlais (2008), Sizing Tennessee (2018) & Cloth Cap (2020).
At the other end of the scale in the jockey statistics, Aidan Coleman has ridden ten horses in the race without recording any wins.
Ladbrokes Trophy 'Trial' Races
It’s a fascinating statistic for sure, but did you realise that four of the last 15 Ladbrokes Trophy winners previously contested the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton?
Native River was third in the 2015 Kauto Star before going on to lift the silverware in 2016.
Horses entered here from last year’s renewal include The Big Breakaway and Enrilo and both will be of a major interest in the betting.
Starting Prices
Looking back through the winning SP’s over the last 20 years, the biggest priced winner was Madison Du Berlais in 2008 (25/1) for the David Pipe and Tom Scudamore combination.
Triolo D'Alene (20/1) caused a bit of a shock in 2013 for Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty, which was in stark contrast to the previous year when the same pairing scored with the 4/1 favourite Bobs Worth.
For the last seven renewals, nothing above 12/1 has managed to come home in first place, so in 2021 it may pay to concentrate on the first five horses in the betting.
At the time of writing, the first five in our horse racing odds are: Ontheropes (11/2), Eklat De Rire (6/1), Enrilo (8/1), Fiddlerontheroof (8/1) and Kitty’s Delight (10/1).
Our antepost NAP of the day is the Paul Nicholls-trained ENRILO.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 9th November 2021
