THE stats tell you that the William Hill Hurdle has generally been a young horse’s game, and the form book tells you that that may be the case this year again.

True, the seven-year-old Aucunrisque won the race in 2023, got home by a length from another seven-year-old in Filey Bay, and the seven-year-old Glory And Fortune won it in 2022, by a short-head from the five-year-old I Like To Move It.