The Silver Cross Stayers’ Hurdle (Liverpool Hurdle) now takes place on the supporting card of the Grand National, on Saturday 11th April. It was first run in 2004 and was promoted to grade 1 status in 2010. Run over 3 miles and half a furlong, 8 of last 10 winners had run in the World Hurdle on their previous start.

Below we take a look at the trends for the past 10 years:

Age (Win-Place-Runners)
5yo: 0-0-7
6yo: 4-6-16
7yo: 3-6-21
8yo: 1-3-27
9yo: 2-2-15
10yo+: 0-0-8
7 of 10 winners have been aged 6 or 7
All 3 winners aged 8+ had won the World Hurdle on their previous start

Breeding
French Bred: 8-4-32
Irish Bred: 1-9-39
British Bred: 1-3-22
German Bred: 0-1-1
8 of last 9 winners were French bred (though Big Buck’s & Mighty Man accounted for 6 of those wins)
Irish bred horses have accounted for over 41% of total runners but only won 1 of 10.

Recent/Past Form
9 of 10 winners won or placed last time out (exception 4th in World Hurdle)
10 of 10 winners posted an RPR of 157+ last time
10 of 10 winners had run 3 to 5 times that season
10 of 10 winners had won over 2M 5F+
9 of 10 winners had won a grade 1 or 2 hurdle (exception won grade 3 Coral Cup on previous run)

Course Form
Previous season's winner (Whisper): 2111 (3-1-4)
Highest placed finisher from previous year: 2138111 (4-2-7)
Record of 2nd & 3rd from previous year: 38B (0-1-3)
5 of 10 winners ran in previous year’s Liverpool hurdle, finishing 1F111
3 other winners had finished in first 2 in Mildmay Novice Chase, Top or Mersey Novice Hurdle while 2013 winner, Solwhit, didn’t run in previous year’s Aintree Festival but had won the Aintree Hurdle in a previous year.
7 of 10 winners finished in first 2 at previous year’s Aintree Festival (1 exception fell in this)
9 of 10 winners had finished 1st or 2nd in a race at a previous Aintree Festival
7 of 10 winners had previously won at the track
From a combined 17 previous course runs, the 10 winners made the places in all but 1 Aintree start, that exception being Blazing Bailey's fall in this race in 2007 before winning it the next year.

Other Races
World Hurdle winner (Cole Harden): 23311111 (5-2-8)
Cleeve Hurdle winner (Saphir Du Rheu): PF31421 (2-2-7)
Relkeel Hurdle winner (Rock On Ruby): 12P (1-1-3)
Dornan Engineering Hurdle winner (Rock On Ruby): R19 (1-0-3)
West Yorkshire Hurdle winner (Cole Harden): 4F (0-0-2)
8 of 10 winners ran in World Hurdle last time, finishing 32411111
5 of 10 winners ran in the Cleeve hurdle, finishing 52211
4 of 10 winners ran in the Long Distance hurdle, finishing 4111
4 of 10 winners ran in the Long Walk hurdle, finishing 1111
2 of 10 winners ran in the Relkeel hurdle, finishing 51
2 of 10 winners ran in the Dornan Engineering Hurdle, finishing 21

Trainers
Paul Nicholls (4-0-11) saddled Big Buck’s to win this 4 times between 2009 & 2012, his other 7 runners have all been unplaced.
Nicky Henderson (1-0-6) won it with Whisper last year.
P Bowen (0-2-3) has seen 2 of his 3 runners make the frame.
Rebecca Curtis (0-1-1) trained At Fishers Cross to finish 2nd last year.
Irish-trained runners (1-1-7) have gained a win and 1 place from 7 runners in this.

Price
10 of 10 winners were sent off 11/2 or shorter
All 10 winners came from the first 3 in the betting, however there have been some long-priced placed finishers, 2 x 14/1, 2 x 16/1, 20/1, 33/1, 50/1 & 66/1.
Favourite (5-4-10) have won 5 of 10 runnings but still show a £1 level stakes loss of £0.73.


Summary:
Based on the trends from the past 10 years you are looking for a horse:
- French bred
- Aged 6 or 7 (or a previous World Hurdle winner)
- Run 2 to 5 times this season
- Won a grade 1 or 2 over 2M 5F+
- Course winner
- Finished in first 3 in World Hurdle last time
- Posted an RPR of 157+ last time
- Won or placed on all course starts
- Finished 1st or 2nd at the 2014 Aintree Festival
- Finished in first 4 in Cleeve, Long Walk and/or Long Distance Hurdle
- Priced 11/2 or shorter