Stars jumphorses in UK

[Cendrelune]

Hi all

I would like to know your jump horses for the big events in the UK, the great hopes, the current stars, all those horses that make us dream

thank you so much

[Bachelors Hall]

Hello Cendrelune

The UK (and Irish) jumps seasons focus primarily around the Cheltenham Festival in March. As such, perhaps the simplest way to find out who the top horses are in each division is to see who is at the head of the markets in each of the big races which can be found in this link;-

https://www.oddschecker.com/cheltenham-festival

In terms of who the best ranked horses are, many will argue that Timeform ratings are the most respectable guide. Getting them on a race by race basis comes at an expensive premium. However, they do publish lists of their top horses fairly regularly.

https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/timeforms_top_chasers

It is also possible to download the official ratings from the BHA (UK) and HRI (Ireland) websites but if you are interested in a broad overview as an introduction, the above links should suit your needs.

If there is anything else you would like to know then feel free to ask.

Also, here are the top jumps races in the UK and Ireland each season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_National_Hunt_races
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_National_Hunt_races

[Cendrelune]

thank you so much

[greenasgrass]

Envoi Allen is the star that everyone is looking forward to over chase fences this year. He won a point to point by 10 lengths on his first try, at the time handled by Colin Bowe who is one of the top point to point trainers in Ireland. Any horse who does that will cost a lot and he’s good looking as well. He was bought by Tom Malone, one of the top bloodstock agents, for £400,000 on behalf of Cheveley Park who are big spending owners. So everybody was watching him from the start. He is unbeaten so far, won the champion bumper at the Cheltenham festival 2 seasons ago, then the 2.5mile novice chase last season. He has already run his first chase (at my local racecourse!), jumped very well and won easily. Any horse that wins at the Cheltenham festival a couple of years in a row- like Altior, Tiger Roll, Douvan and Vautour is viewed as really special and people really start to follow them. He isn’t as big as the likes of Douvan and has a better jumping technique so hopefully will stay sound.

[greenasgrass]

As far as big events go- the next big one in the UK is the Betfair chase, over 3 miles at Haydock near Liverpool. It actually is often not a very competitive race as it’s too early in the season for the Irish trainers to send their good horses over and it’s often run on heavy ground. There used to be a £1million bonus for winning this, the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup but I don’t think it’s on offer this year. Nicky Henderson usually doesn’t send his star staying chasers there (he likes them to run on a surface made of feathers, velvet and rainbows at the start of the season) but might send Santini this year who is a little bit of a “boat” compared to his past stars like Might Bite, and Paul Nicholls will often run one but his are usually just warming up for the King George at Christmas, like Clan des Obeaux will be this year.

Colin Tizzard’s good horse Lostintranslation who won it last year will likely run in it. Tizzard has a reputation for running his good horses in every race he can think of, which is hard on some of them but at least you get to see them! Bristol de Mai who won it the two years before that and was 3nd last year will probably run again too.

Some good 2 mile chasers will start their season in the Shloer chase at Cheltenham this weekend though it’s only a grade 2. It’s an interesting division this year as the star Altior is getting a bit older, the Irish trained Chacun Pour Soi is fragile and nobody knows how good last year’s novice 2 milers are- they look OK but there is no obvious new star.

[greenasgrass]

Another thing we British and Irish like to do every year is look for handicappers improving into grade 1 horses. This is very hard to do but I think people like the “rags to riches” aspect of it- kind of like the stories of millionaires who starting life pushing a wheelbarrow. (Although the likes of Saint Roi, this year’s hope, isn’t exactly in rags).

People also like small trainers who get one or two very good horses- Paisley Park is an example of this. He had a heart problem at Cheltenham last year but his trainer thinks he is fine now.

[Gladiateur]

@cendrelune, there’s a very good (and free!) resource here:

http://jumps.attheraces.com/

Plenty of interesting stuff there.

[Coggy]

The two horses that I am looking forward to seeing the most as the season progresses are Envoi Allen (as mentioned above ) and Flinteur Sacre.

[Cendrelune]

thank you very much

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