With British Champions Day drawing the curtain on the flat racing season at Ascot last weekend, the first chill in the air, the big names back schooling and major stable tours dropping, it’s safe to say that the National Hunt campaign is about to take centre stage.
Such is the nature of jumps racing in the modern era that all roads now lead to the Cheltenham Festival. Ante-post punters will be watching every big race and preview between now and March with one thing in mind: finding the best prices possible and beating the bookies.
Luckily for them, the path to Prestbury Park is often paved with clues from the likes of Leopardstown and Kempton, especially over the busy Christmas schedule. Anticipation is building for another season of high drama, so let’s look at some of the early talking points ahead of the Festival.
Early markers: What the November meeting could tell us
While the jumps season proper is officially underway, starting at Chepstow with the Welsh Racing Festival earlier this month, the Cheltenham November Meeting is when many consider the campaign to properly kick off.
The Grade 2 Shloer Steeplechase tops the first card of the three-day festival. The two-mile contest has been a regular starting point of the campaign for fan favourite Jonbon, and it looks likely that the nine-year-old will make his seasonal reappearance there once again.
Jonbon won the contest 12 months ago, beating Boothill by a length and a half, but made costly mistakes in the Champion Chase at the Festival itself. Nicky Henderson could consider a different target at Cheltenham in March, as stablemate Sir Gino is the hot favourite for the day two feature.
‘Super Saturday’ is the headliner of the three days, and there will be crucial clues from the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial, the Grade 2 Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Steeple Chase, and the Paddy Power Gold Cup Steeplechase.
2025 Festival winners Jagwar and Caldwell Potter could go head-to-head in a thrilling battle in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. The former won the TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase, while Calwell Potter excelled in the Grade 2 Golden Miller.
14-time Champion Trainer, Paul Nicholls, likes to target the two-mile, four-furlong steeplechase, and the part-owned Sir Alex Ferguson gelding could make it three wins in a row for the Ditcheat handler and shorten his price for the Ryanair Chase down from 14s.
The Greatwood Hurdle is the feature race on Sunday, with recent Chepstow winners Celtic Dino and Sticktotheplan potentially going up against each other. If both turn up, that would be a fantastic contest against two progressive hurdlers, with the Champion Hurdle a potential target in March.
The Champion Hurdle picture: A new lion enters the fray
That leads us nicely onto the ever-developing Champion Hurdle picture. This year’s Championship race didn’t materialise into the cracker that pundits and racing fans wanted, with Constitution Hill falling, Brighterdaysahead running no race at all, and State Man falling with the race at his peril as Golden Ace caused one of the biggest upsets of the week.
It was the second year in a row that the Champion Hurdle felt somewhat subdued. In 2024, Constitution Hill was withdrawn just days before the prestigious two-mile contest due to illness, leaving State Man to fend off Irish Point, albeit not as easily as expected given his short price.
The 2026 Champion Hurdle is already shaping up with the potential to be one of the best races of the week once again. The New Lion was one of the best novices of last season, winning all four of his outings, including the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, and is the favourite at this stage.
The Dan Skelton-trained gelding could face competition from Willie Mullins’ State Man and Lossiemouth, who opted for the Mares’ Hurdle route instead of taking on stiffer competition last season, while Henderson hasn’t given up hope for a revival from Constitution Hill.
The poster boy of jumps racing had everyone on the edge of their seats with wins in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham, but ended the campaign looking a shadow of his former self with falls in the Champion Hurdle and Aintree Hurdle before tailing off desperately in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.
Henderson claims that the eight-year-old underwent extensive checks this summer, but nothing was found amiss. He’s on course to return in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, though a return to his very best feels like little more than a fairytale for most in jumps racing at this stage.
Mullins’ machine: Can anyone stop the master of Closutton?
Mullins’ dominance at Cheltenham has been unstoppable in recent years. The Irish handler is now on 113 Festival winners, and counting, claiming the Leading Trainer title for the last seven years in a row and setting a record for the most victories in a single year with 10 wins.
His conveyor belt of talent at his Closutton yard is endless, and he’ll be equally well armed going into this season’s meeting. Mullins already has around 10 ante-post favourites at this stage, including Kopek Des Bordes in the Arkle, Final Demand in the Brown Advisory Novice Chase, Ballyburn in the Stayers’ Hurdle and Fact To File in the Ryanair Chase.
Not to mention Galopin Des Champs' redemption arc in the Gold Cup. The nine-year-old was well-backed to win the race for the third consecutive time in March, but was easily held by Inothewayurthinkin. Many will be hoping he can bounce back, and he’s currently second to the defending champion in the ante-post market.
It’s a contingent of horses that will take all the beating, and it’s unlikely that anyone will even get a sniff in the race for the Leading Trainer accolade. If anyone can go close to dethroning Mullins, it’s potentially Britain’s Dan Skelton.
The two handlers have been in nail-biting battles for the Trainers’ Championship for the last two years, with Mullins just coming out on top to deny Skelton on both occasions. Even if the Warwickshire-based trainer can’t end Mullins’ run of Leading Trainer titles, a competitive Festival could still give him a much-needed edge in the race for the season-long championship.
The New Lion is obviously Skelton’s major piece of ammo going into Cheltenham next March, but he also has big chances elsewhere, with the likes of Riskintheground in the TrustATrader Plate and L’Eau du Sud. Skelton is fantastic at getting his horses prepped for the handicaps, so seeing more of his horses emerge as challengers as the season develops wouldn't be a surprise.
Novice watch: Future stars to look out for
Some of the most exciting novices going into the new season have already been briefly mentioned, but as the future stars of the sport, they’re certainly worth taking a more in-depth look at.
Bambo Fever is arguably the one with the most potential. The Mullins-trained five-year-old won her only point-to-point before landing all four of her races under rules, including the prestigious Champion Bumper at Cheltenham and the Punchestown Champion Bumper in April.
The chestnut mare is already the ante-post favourite for several races at Cheltenham as she prepares to switch to obstacles. She’s the shortest price for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at 4/1 but is prominent in the markets for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (12/1) and Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (16/1).
Her stablemate, Kopek Des Bordes, is primed for a jump from novice hurdling to novice chasing this campaign and is red-hot for the Arkle at 4/1 after landing the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Festival. However, he will face competition from Henderson’s Lulamba, another quality hurdler moving to steeplechasing.
The Henderson-trained four-year-old was stunned by 100/1 outsider Poniros in the Triumph Hurdle in March, but reversed that form in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle at Punchestown in May and looks to come on for the switch to chasing.
Final Demand is another leading novice for Mullins. The six-year-old’s sole defeat over hurdles came against The New Lion in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival last year, and he’s got plenty of scope to progress further over fences, so 11/4 could prove value in the ante-post market for the Brown Advisory Novice Chase.
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The long road to Cheltenham starts now, with every major race reshaping the narratives and ante-post markets.
