Cheltenham Betting Tips: Four horses to watch at the Cheltenham November Meeting
Joel Pattison
Prestbury Park has already opened its doors for the new National Hunt season, with last month’s Showcase Meeting raising the curtain on what promises to be another enthralling jumps racing season. However, for many, the road to the 2027 Cheltenham Festival truly begins this weekend.
The three-day November Meeting takes place from Friday to Sunday, with the Cheltenham Chase, Hyde Novices’ Hurdle, Triumph Hurdle Trial, Arkle Trial, Paddy Power Gold Cup and Greatwood Hurdle among the highlights of the meeting.
While it’s often a good place to start gathering clues for the Festival in March, we’re not here to talk about ante-post selections or horses to follow over the coming months. Instead, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the key contenders and highlighting the horses worth keeping an eye on in this weekend’s big races.
From promising novices looking to announce themselves to established performers targeting early-season honours, here are four horses to watch at the November Meeting.
See the latest Cheltenham November Meeting odds on LiveScore Bet
Cheltenham Chase – Jonbon
Kicking off with one of the more established contenders set to line-up this weekend, Jonbon returns to Prestbury Park hoping to regain his Cheltenham Chase crown having failed to complete the hat-trick when a distant second to L’Eau du Sud last year.
There were rumours at the end of last season whether the Nicky Henderson-trained 10-year-old would return this campaign, but he has carried on training and he’s the obvious selection in the first big race of the weekend, with JP McManus’ new stable jockey Harry Cobden set to take the ride for the first time.
While yet to win at the Cheltenham Festival in his career, Jonbon has got a stunning record of 20 wins (17 of which at Graded level) and has never finished outside the top two in 28 starts. He’s ahead of his six rivals on class and ratings and should take the beating if his class prevails on Friday afternoon.
Hyde Novices’ Hurdle – Ferocimo
The penultimate race of the opening afternoon is an intriguing Grade 2 novices’ hurdle over two miles and five furlongs. Divine Diva is sure to prove popular for Champion Trainer Dan Skelton after she made a promising start over hurdles with an almost four-length success at Chepstow last month.
However, Ferocimo was an eyecatcher on debut for the in-form Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies yard. Part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, the gelding was snapped up for £115,000 after winning his sole point-to-point outing and made a breathtaking start under rules when coasting home by 14 lengths at Fontwell on his hurdles debut.
That is the standard setter in this contest, and the same connections won this in 2024 with Potters Charm, who turned out to be a smart enough hurdler and recently made a winning debut over fences at Worcester, so he’s the one worth watching.
Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle – Charles Darnay
If there’s been one takeaway from the November Meeting in recent years, it’s that when James Owen has a horse lined up in the Triumph Trial, you take note. The dual-purpose trainer won this race back-to-back with Burdett Road and East India Dock in 2023 and 2024, while Kate O’Riley finished third from a decent price last year.
Owen has two lining up for this year’s renewal, Charles Darnay and Magnetude. Both made winning starts when switching to hurdles from the Flat and are prominent in the betting. However, preference is with the former.
Charles Darnay landed the Listed Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle at Wetherby at the end of October, pinging the last and going away to win by over three lengths from his nearest rival.
Unbeaten Irish rivals, Atomic City and Admiral Will Brown, add to the quality and depth of this juvenile contest, but the clear standard looks to be set by Charles Darnay, and his ante-post odds for the Triumph Hurdle in March are certain to shorten if he wins this.
Paddy Power Gold Cup – Blueking d’Oroux
A competitive renewal, as you’d expect, of the Paddy Power Gold Cup, which is the feature contest of the entire weekend. The market is headlined by Meetmebythesea, who won the Grade 2 Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, while Quebecois is prominent for Paul Nicholls.
However, Skelton won this year with his classy mare Panic Attack and holds two big chances with Madara and Blueking d’Oroux. The latter only joined the Champion Trainer from Nicholls’ yard during the off-season but was a Grade 2-winning chaser for his previous yard and finished second on his final start of last season in the Grade 1Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree.
He probably needs to sharpen up on his jumping on this seasonal reappearance and yard debut, but he’s in the right hands to have done that since last seen and he’s likely on a competitive mark at 148 on this return to handicap company.
