The event was established in 1963, and it was originally called the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle.
The first triple-winner of the Bula Hurdle was Bird's Nest, whose third victory came in 1980.
The race is now sponsored by Stan James's parent company, Unibet.
Until 2022 the race was run at Cheltenham's International meeting in December.
In April 2023 the British Horseracing Authority announced that the race would be run in future at the Festival Trials meeting in January.