• REGISTER NOW!! Why? Because you can't do much without having been registered!

    At the moment you have limited access to view all discussions - and most importantly, you haven't joined our community. What are you waiting for? Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join Join Talking Horses here!

Novice & Maiden Hurdlers 2025-2026 - Who Might Step Up?

Ayr 12.45 1st Dec

Kinneston Nick's L'Arme de Bonheur looked up against it with the three principles in this. Nick reported the 4 year old as being a bit weak in his previous hurdle start, with the heavy ground here likely to illustrate the necessity for some further strengthening-up.

L'Arme had all but won a Uttoxeter bumper in his first start, and tried to go from the front here on his 2nd hurdle start but got taken on (which probably wouldn't have helped). Predictably, the 80-1 shot faded right out as the three main runners came to the fore.

This should set him up nicely for good odds in a better-ground handicap at some point in future.
 
6th Dec Wetherby 11.55

A near 3 miles novice run on close to proper soft-looking ground.

Not too hard to look further than the three at the top of the market at first glance.

But lurking in the 200s-300s was a Joe Tickle Malinas runner - The Moonlight Man. A point winner on heavy ground before pulled up in first novice over two and a half

Ran a nice race front rank, not able to go with the first 3 home from around 2 out. But out the back of the telly, you could see he seemed to be wilting at the last and probably would fade when facing that longish run-in. But lo and behold, he holds on to land the 10.2 4 places, looking to finish pretty fresh.

This was a heavy beating, but showed he has stamina and can jump. The run might go a little unnoticed.
 
6th Dec Sadown

Methinks we shouldn't underestimate the run of Soldier Reeves in the listed 2 mile novice at Sandown.

No 'too keen' excuses this time (at least to my eyes, other more experienced eyes may see it differently), seemed to be settled comfortably last and made a threatening move when the race started. The winner had far too many guns for him, though, with this race illustrating again 'never (or shall we say rarely) be afraid of just one horse'. Especially an unproven youngster.

SR was a ridiculous-looking 14.5 10 mins before the race. That indicates his ability might still be underestimated in future races. My instincts after the Cheltenham run were he'd want further.
 
Last edited:
7th Dec Huntingdon 12.42

Been watching Mulholland's Bel Ombre for a couple of races, with an eye to a handicap later on. Didn't look to have any chance here against yet another Bailey monster maiden + 3 or 4 from the other usual suspects, though only traded around 50s pre-race.

The Bailey monster took the race apart from around 2 out, with only one Henderson runner getting within hailing distance. The other two likely contenders for places were run legless, allowing Bel Ombre to come from well off the pace to fail narrowly in grabbing a heavily distant 3rd - looking to fight hard for that position.

That's done the handicap prospects no harm, methinks.
 
10th Dec Hexham

Sue Smith ran Mad Mag again over 2 miles.

But...

This time on heavy ground over Hexham's stiff track. In a 5 runner race, where only 3 could win. And the two at the top of the market looked eminently beatable.

Around 14s made this a bet. Sadly Mag couldn't pull off the win, running a close enough 2nd. But this has ruined it for some time now, maybe not until getting a handicap over much further, and possibly even involving a wait for a year or two. Maggie clearly has something, though.
 
Teddington Lock - 5-y-o mare, trained by Sara Bradstock for the Luck family.

Four runs in Irish mares' maiden points, followed by a win at Fontwell in September in a mares' bumper over nearly 18 furlongs, and a third of eight ( 9/4f) - beaten around seven lengths - in a two mile mares' novice hurdle at Windsor on November 23rd.

Likely to need further than two miles, especially when in handicaps. No entries shown for the next few days.
 
11th Dec The closing bumper on the Warwick card.

Taking a small chance on ruling out the Skelton runner, there looked to be no more than 3 or 4 in this.

And, with the BP runner too big at around 16s on the exchange, there seemed only two logical bets.

The Poet's Word favourite looked the most likely, but seemed to heavily under perform. As in 'too bad to be true' underperformance.

But, perhaps an interesting one could be the only mare in the field, Claire Dyson's Frontiersman runner Tierbay, in the 300s throughout. Anchored last for most of the way, she obviously wasn't going to do much here but kept up without improving till bypassing a few of the faders at the end.

Claire might be able to get this one into the frame in a mares only bumper at a likely massive price.
 
Last edited:
Damn! Our Park Star looks like he's Hendo's latest star novice. THAT was very impressive - Altioresque for me and the field looked nice physically and on paper.
 
chaumi said:
  • Dan Skelton probably wouldn't have been disappointed with the run of the fairly well-fancied Soldier Of Fortune - Big Cadillac - coming home in 6th. Some might underestimate future chances based on this run, maybe 3 miles will see some good performances in future.
Click to expand...
Runs tomorrow at Cheltenham over 3m. 22/1
 
I Ain't Your Mate - 5-y-o gelding trained by Christian Williams. Rated 100 after three quick runs in maiden/novice hurdles in Jan/Feb 2025. Subsequently a non-runner three times ( travel problems, going too quick at Chepstow on October 10th, going too boggy at Uttoxeter on December 19th ).

Trainer says horse is not straightforward and may need starting off over hurdles. Two runs in Irish maiden points where the second of those - beaten a neck by El Cairos with the third 12l back - looks reasonable form.

No future entries.
 
The Reverend has just won quite nicely at Cork for Tony Bloom and Willie Mullins. A four time winner for William Haggas on the Flat and rated 102, this 5yo could be of interest for the Supreme?
 
Yes, that would look to be a pointedly uneducated omission.

Amazingly, the two most likely (at this point) winners of the Supreme both came down at the last when tanking.
 
This is a reasonable point to catch up, I think.

As per most years, I find that as we go into late Dec/Jan, the types I'm looking for (ie, might go in at 33-1+ somewhere) tend to dry up a little. That's probably because most are getting exposed by now, and/or the competition is hotting up in the races in general.

A few noted so far have run, with a few winners at shortish prices. Not necessarily too short, but not really what I'm after. (Bel Ombre recently was a good example, Reteti was a short price in a dire Plumpton novice but shot himself in the foot by nearly flooring the 1-12 fav)

Several others have run, but not in suitable races. There's still time for them, and a handful will go off at big prices in winnable races.


Soldier Reeves I noted some time ago that he'd need further, an impression cemented in no uncertain terms in the Rossington Main. I'm still hoping for double figures in a valuable handicap over two and a half or more, there are definitely boots to be filled.
 
chaumi said:
Soldier Reeves I noted some time ago that he'd need further, an impression cemented in no uncertain terms in the Rossington Main. I'm still hoping for double figures in a valuable handicap over two and a half or more, there are definitely boots to be filled.
Click to expand...
He's been mightily tried the last twice since his good win at Cheltenham (which I think I did some major celebrating afterwards having flagged him on here?) in a Listed Race followed by a G3. I see he is in both the Supreme and Turners Novice so he gets a step up in trip there. He's currently on 130 but could drop for that last run? Would he target a handicap with him there?
 
Below is something published on the BHA website on 10 December 2025 in relation to the 2026 Programme Book 1. There isn't a novice handicap hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival which means that Soldier Reeves needs two more runs in a few weeks to be eligible to run in either the Coral Cup or the Martin Pipe Handicap. There is a two and a half mile handicap hurdle at Aintree in April. ( I have noted down Break My Soul and Hansard for the Grand Annual Handicap, and both need another run to be eligible. )

For the Cheltenham Festival only, the requirements are:

– for a minimum of 5 runs over hurdles for any horse (novice or non-novice) to run in non-novice handicap hurdles

– a minimum of 4 runs over fences for any horse (novice or non-novice) to run in non-novice handicap chases.

This will be reflected in the race conditions for Class 1 non-Novice or Juvenile Handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Novices’ and Juvenile handicaps will continue to be three runs as per the regular handicapping rules and reflected in the race conditions.
 
Looks like it'll most likely be Aintree then. But if we see some rapid entries in the coming few weeks, we'll have a good clue what the game is. MP seems the most obvious if it's doable getting him there, Coral Cup next year.

As a historic illustration, Skelton first put Langer Dan into the Boodles, where he finished a close 6th, MP the next year and the year after, then the two Coral Cups.
 

Recent Blog Posts

Back
Top