Where have all the young hurdlers gone? All four races down on entries with record-low for the Triumph

There is no way to gild the numbers lily when it comes to the number of entries across the three Grade 1 novice hurdles and their age-restricted counterpart the Triumph, with all four races showing a decline on 12 months ago. 

Most worrying of all is the record-low 44 entries for the JCB Triumph Hurdle, a race which is now designed to be more selective on the day, thanks to the introduction of the Boodles-sponsored handicap for four-year-olds almost 20 years ago. 

The increasing number of horses rated 90-plus on the Flat who are now sold to the Middle East, Hong Kong and Australia, may form part of the explanation for the long term decline in juvenile hurdling, but this year's entry is down 25 per cent on each of the last two years.