10 Jumpers To Follow
(Horse profile can be viewed by clicking name)
Beakstown ended his novice hurdle campaign being pulled up in the Ballymore at The Cheltenham festival, but it was his runs before then that caught the eye, having notched up 2 wins and a 2nd place in his previous 3 starts most impressive one being his Grade 2 success in the Leamington Novices hurdle at Warwick where he beat a decent field, this was an added extra as the Skeltons always said anything he did in his novice hurdle season would be a bonus as he was always going to make a better chaser, so with that being said I like them are expecting a big season for him over the larger obstacles.
Was the market leader for the Champion Bumper at The Cheltenham Festival after registering two impressive wins at Down Royal and Punchestown, both being wide margin victories, all of this was before he unfortunately picked up a knee injury which ruled him out for the rest of the season, this which was obviously a disappointment for all connected but they did have the winner of the bumper in Envoi Allen in the end, Gordon reported that he is back in training and schooling well, he’s certainly a horse I’m looking forward to seeing over a hurdle with chasing an option in the future.
She was unbeaten in 4 starts last season over hurdles with trips varying from 2m to 2m4f, most impressively was her Grade 1 win at Fairyhouse in April where she made light work of some decent mares. With Henry opting to keep her over hurdles again this season it will be interesting to see where he opts to send her and if he decides to put her up against the boys some stage, with the Mares hurdle likely to be her ultimate target come spring time.
Winning all 4 of her starts in bumpers and only just being beaten in her only start over hurdles, Gypsy Island looks like she will be a classy recruit to the Mares Novice division, reportedly back in training and working well we could be seeing her back on the tack in the near future, she’s already been put in as the market leader for the Mares Novice hurdle at Cheltenham come March.
Only managed the 2 runs for Nicky last season, the first of which was his British debut in which he won the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton effortlessly, moving away from the field by 9 lengths which saw him instantly cut for the Triumph hurdle at Cheltenham come March, but unfortunately in his victory he picked up a nasty cut to his leg when jumping the last hurdle which ruled him out of the Cheltenham and Aintree festivals, but it wasn’t too bad as he returned to the racetrack again in May where he won the Champion four year old hurdle at Punchestown where he beat a decent yard stick in Fakir D’oudairies. He’s likely to be primed for the Champion Hurdle with a possible starting point being the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, it will be a tough job for Nicky to keep the likes of Fusil Raffles, Buveur D’Air and Pentland Hills apart with them all aiming to meet at the Cheltenham show piece.
Ran 3 times last season with his debut being a narrow defeat at Chepstow to Lisnagar Oscar before returning to Chepstow a month later to gain a victory in a Maiden hurdle, he was then chucked into the deep end for the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle and did himself no harm where he finished 4th of 20 in doing so he was the first of the English horses home, reversing form with Lisnagar Oscar in the process, he was certainly made for chasing and will be heading that way this season, you’d assume his main aim would be the RSA come Cheltenham unless Nicky decides on another route.
Won 4 of his 8 starts over hurdles and finished 2nd in the Grade 1 Challow hurdle to Champ, After that the he then went to the rearranged Betfair Hurdle at Ascot, where he finished a creditable 4th with Nicholls coming out and saying they got the race tactics wrong, after this he was 4th at Kelso where he was found not to be right after the race, then came his two most impressive victories, first a victory over Galvin at Ayr which in turn meant he qualified for the Novices Championship final at Sandown, he was given a top weight of 11st12 meaning he was giving upwards of a stone to the majority of his rivals, even so he went on to win by just over 2 lengths which got him the rating of 155 making him the 2nd highest rather novice hurdler behind Klassical Dream, the plan for this season is to send him chasing with the Arkle being the target, but with the Champion Hurdle the way it is could hurdling remain on the cards.
Only had the 2 starts last season for Willie, his debut Win at Gowran was eye catching, he was leading in the straight and was given a little squeeze which made him show his impressive turn of foot, this in turn led to JP purchasing him, after that it was straight into the Champion bumper where he was beaten 3/4s of a length by Envoi Allen, he challenged strongly inside the final furlong but couldn’t find any extra, He’s sure to be an interesting one in the novice hurdles, he’s currently joint favourite for the supreme with the previously mentioned Malone Road.
With 6 starts over the bigger obstacles last season and a form guide reading 231221, Lostintranslation is clearly an impressive horse, the 1st of his victories came at Cheltenham in January beating his old rival Defi Du Seuil, who then went to reverse the form at Sandown and The Cheltenham Festival, but arguably the best of him wasn’t seen till Aintree where he claimed a Grade 1 over fences beating the RSA winner Topofthegame by 6 lengths in the Mildmay Novices Chase, shaken up just after the last he effortlessly went clear, judged on that form its easy to see why the Tizzard’s are excited about a possible tilt at The Gold Cup this year, they are looking to start him off at Carlisle, before a trip to Haydock then seeing if he’s improved enough to to head to the King George at Kempton before the big one in March.
Didn’t do much wrong in his 5 starts over fences winning 4 times and finishing 2nd to Lalor in the Arkle trail and the November Cheltenham meeting, he then turned the form around a month later at Sandown in the Henry VIII Novices chase, before then heading to Kempton and beating Kalashnikov in the Wayward Lad, it was after these victories that he was installed as the 2nd Fav for the Arkle, he then went on to win again at Doncaster before unfortunately suffering a minor setback which ruled him out for the remainder of the season, he’s said to be back in training and going well, the Tingle Creek at Sandown was mentioned but it might come too soon so it’s possible The Game Spirit at Newbury could be his starting pointing, all of this will be leading to The Champion Chase, which if Altior going up in trip goes to plan and he heads to a different race at The Festival this would leave The Champion Chase a wide open race.
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