The National Hunt season is already in full flow, and at GG, all of our writers and tipsters will be giving their “10 To Follow” for the season in the coming weeks. Here, Joe Napier gives his from across Great Britain and Ireland.
Jeroboam Machin – Emmet Mullins
There would have to be a few reservations regarding JEROBOAM MACHIN given his absence since blowing away his rivals in the Grade 2 bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival, but if he is to return this season, he is likely to do so at a very high level.
A rangy chestnut, he came clear by 4¼ lengths at Leopardstown, with experienced bumper performers in Redemption Day and A Dream To Share trailing in his wake. The former went on to win the Grade 1 at Punchestown, but could not lay a glove on Emmet Mullins’ five-year-old back in February.
He is a half-brother to Joyeux Machin, trained by Paul Nolan and who has recorded a peak RPR of 144 over obstacles, so there is something in the family. Jeroboam looks likely to follow Joyeux up to at least 2m4f in trip, and the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle would be a prime target if he does so. Natural improvement is needed as it is with any horse stepping out of bumpers, but if his off-course ailments have not unduly affected him, he has a very bright future.
Good And Clever – Warren Greatrex
Warren Greatrex has been making more of a splash on the flat in 2024, so perhaps it’s adequate that one of his most promising National Hunt horses for this season emerges from bumpers. That horse is GOOD AND CLEVER, who only raced twice last season, but made a significant impact.
His win on debut at Warwick came when thrashing a previous winner by 12 lengths, with the next step the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree. He finished a very creditable third, the same place filled by Stage Star in 2021, and did so when plenty of prominent racers fell by the wayside. However, he kept on admirably as the held up winner finished the stronger.
The fourth won on his first two hurdles starts thereafter so the form is already holding up fairly solidly. As he is not trained by one of the traditionally top yards, he may be available at better prices than he should for his early hurdles starts and could well make up into one of the livelier British hopes among the novice hurdle contingent.
Deafening Silence – Dan Skelton
The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle was talked about as a serious possibility for DEAFENING SILENCE, but he is another for whom a mysterious affliction has delayed his time on the track. A seven-year-old with only three starts under rules and as many delays to his career is a risky one to follow, but potentially a very worthwhile one for novice chases this term.
We will learn more during the stable tour part of the 2024/25 National Hunt season, but as a horse with stamina as his primary abundance, Deafening Silence would look made for staying chases. His novice hurdle win at Exeter last November worked out to the extent that all of his five rivals have won since and look progressive, while his Grade 2 Winter Novices’ Hurdle saw him beat three rivals now rated in the 130s, and Southoftheborder will almost certainly join them for Nicky Henderson.
That victory owed much to his stamina reserves to outbattle Paul Nicholls’ Insurrection, and given the Albert Bartlett was the target, 3m looks the aim soon. If all is well, expect a chase debut over an intermediate trip beforehand, but he has already won a point-to-point over 3m and even that form has worked out well; the runner-up that day was none other than 2024 Cheltenham Festival Hunter Chase winner Sine Nomine, whom he beat by seven lengths.
Moon Over Mexico – Charlie Longsdon
Described by his trainer as having an “exciting future”, MOON OVER MEXICO is in an unusual situation heading into this jumps season. A point-to-point winner, he emerged from Colin Bowe’s yard with Charlie Longsdon and duly won on his hurdling debut for his rules yard over 2m4½f at Newcastle in January.
That was his only run before a “niggling setback”, but that is of no concern. Where he goes next is fascinating, as he will not be a novice this season, but is yet to earn a mark. As a result, there may well be some interest in a novice chase, especially as a 3m point winner, in which he would be considering strongly.
The third from his hurdles victory won a Listed mares’ race next time out, with the runner-up well regarded too. The fourth won his next two starts after finishing 11 lengths behind Longsdon’s charge, so he already has significant substance to his form, and may well be a type for some big Saturdays.
Handstands – Ben Pauling
It was an enviable task facing HANDSTANDS when he lined up at the Cheltenham Festival back in March. He and Nicky Henderson’s Jingko Blue were the only British runners against a quintet trained by Willie Mullins, headed by the estimable Ballyburn. In attempting to race with the pace, he paid the price late and watched the five Closutton giants swan into the distance.
However, Handstands is evidently a horse with significant ability. Despite idling at Huntingdon in the Listed Sidney Banks Novices’ Hurdle, he beat Grade 1 winner Jango Baie with something in hand. He may have been in receipt of 5lb, but that Henderson inmate is now rated 146 having also carried a Grade 1 penalty to be second in a Kelso Grade 2 as well.
Third that day was Bugise Seagull, who made the frame in the Grade 1 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree, beating two of the Mullins horses who were ahead of Handstands at Cheltenham. The occasion can always be a bit much for an inexperienced horse, but Handstands retains significant potential as a result and comes into this season rated 139. Handicap hurdles look there to be won, with any ground or intermediate distance looking suitable.
Yeats Star – Gordon Elliott
As his dad was on the flat, YEATS STAR could well prove to be an out-and-out stayer over fences for Gordon Elliott this season. Although he was a relatively slow burner last season over hurdles, he has quite a lot of form that is beginning to stack up nicely, with the impression left that 3m, and potentially well beyond, is going to be his calling.
He had the ability to win a novices’ handicap over 2m½f at Punchestown last term, before also placing at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and the Dublin Racing Festival. The latter was a particularly notable run, seeing him finish third to Maxxum when upped to 3m for the first time. That winner won again at Punchestown off 6lb higher, and Yeats Star was only a length in arrears.
Yeats Star was pulled up in the Martin Pipe, but that race is traditionally very hot, and 2m4½f already looks on the short side for him. Nevertheless, he was a respectable fourth on his return in August over that trip on good ground, then won on his chasing debut at Listowel. That form would need improving upon in the grand scheme of things, and he may not be Grade 1 standard, but any of the big staying handicap chases in Ireland could well come under threat if this lad is underestimated, as his hurdles mark suggests he could well be.
El Elefante – Lucinda Russell
The Lucinda Russell yard can almost always be relied upon to have a useful, upcoming stayer among their ranks. All of One For Arthur, Corach Rambler, Apple Away and Giovinco have fit the bill in recent seasons, and they may have another who will improve for fences in the shape of EL ELEFANTE.
She is a half sister to Snake Roll, a horse the yard tragically lost last term, but he was beginning to go places and it may be that his sibling picks up where he left off. She made it to a rating in the mid-120s over hurdles, but as a point runner-up and scopey sort, she made a fine chase debut in a competitive mares’ novice event at Worcester.
While the odds-on favourite West Balboa made a bad blunder when beginning to close, Russell’s charge was still the one in control at the time against a very useful opponent. It suggests she will rate a fair bit higher over fences and that she may have improved over the summer too, while her finishing effort through the line over 2m4f suggests 3m will be right up her street in due course.
Il Etait Temps – Willie Mullins
A genuine Grade 1 inclusion, who would be considered a burgeoning superstar in most stables, IL ETAIT TEMPS is more or less the forgotten horse at Closutton for this season. He claimed three Grade 1s in his novice chase season last term, more than either of the more vaunted pair Gaelic Warrior or Fact To File.
He can also count a victory over the former to his name, which arrived at the Punchestown Festival despite Gaelic Warrior starting as the 1/3 favourite. That nextdoor neighbour had beaten him comfortably at Limerick and Cheltenham, but Mullins’ diminutive grey should not be counted out from having simply improved to Gaelic Warrior’s level come the close of the season.
His size may always count against him in terms of his profile, but he does not let fences get in his way, as demonstrated when routing his opposition at Aintree and then backing up that effort at Punchestown. Any Grade 1 chase between 2m-2m4f could be within his range this season, so as long as he doesn’t find himself unfairly down Mullins’ list of priorities, expect at least one more top level prize to arrive in 2024/25.
Monty’s Star – Henry De Bromhead
Some horses are chasers even when they’re hurdlers, and that was certainly the case with MONTY’S STAR, who got the chance to stretch his legs over fences for the first time last term. Unsurprisingly, he quickly developed into an entirely different horse, competing with useful opposition from the very start at Fairyhouse and ending the season as a two-time Grade 1 runner-up.
The three horses that beat him to the winning post were all JP McManus-owned novices, and all out of the top drawer. Monty’s Star was never beaten by more than four lengths, jumped for fun throughout the majority of his starts, and had no issue adapting to any ground. What he may just about lack in top level ability, he makes up for in fighting spirit and jumping prowess.
He enters this season on an Irish mark of just 152, which could clinically underestimate his ability. Henry De Bromhead will hope he can develop into a Grade 1 chaser this season, but some significant handicap chases may well be the priority first. He looks a potentially ideal type for the Coral Gold Cup, and both the Aintree or Irish Grand Nationals could easily come into play by season’s end too.
Sans Bruit – Paul Nicholls
We finish with an established handicap chaser, but one who could easily be moulded into a higher class animal by Paul NIcholls. SANS BRUIT raced five times between January and April, but while he only won once, there were surefire signs of progression. The promise of his form in France gives hope for even more in the future too.
With David Cottin, he was a Grade 3 winning hurdler on the continent as well as a runner-up in a Grade 2 chase, so was fairly rated for his hurdles bow for NIcholls at 134. Two heavy defeats over timber sparked a switch to fences at the beginning of April where he should have won at Chepstow, before readily putting things right in the Grade 3 Red Rum Handicap Chase at Aintree, where he and Bryony Frost blitzed the opposition from the front.
Frost has since made the reverse journey over to France, but there is hope Sans Bruit can continue his rise without her in the saddle. His Aintree defeat of Saint Roi looks particularly good form now with that runner-up filling the same position at Punchestown (beaten a short head) and then winning at Galway off 6lb higher in Ireland, which could be the equivalent of far more over here. Sans Bruit was probably overraced by the time of his defeat at Ayr, but the handicapper has eased him back down 1lb and there could very easily be numerous races for him to win this season.
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