With Chepstow well in the rear-view mirror and the season now under way at Prestbury Park, it’s safe to say the National Hunt campaign has taken centre stage in the racing world.
We may be five months away from the Olympics of our sport, but what can we expect this season from last year’s championship winners?
Champion Hurdle winner – Lossiemouth
Lossiemouth has been one of the most dominant mares in National Hunt racing in recent years, and it’s hard to believe she’s only seven years of age. The gorgeous grey Great Pretender mare won the 2023 Triumph Hurdle and hasn’t looked back since.
Lossiemouth won the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham twice thereafter, though many argued she should’ve been running in the Champion Hurdle regardless. In the absence of some of the dominant two-milers of recent years, such as Constitution Hill and State Man, she belatedly contested the Champion Hurdle last season.
It was a fascinating contest, as Golden Ace was bidding to prove her 2025 success was no fluke, while Brighterdaysahead was bidding to end her Cheltenham curse. The British hope The New Lion was out to back up his Turners’ success, but none could match the brilliance of Lossiemouth on the day, as she took up the lead in the home straight and came home six lengths to the good.
Lossiemouth is the current 6/4 favourite for the Champion Hurdle this season, whereas she’s 14/1 for the Mares’ Hurdle. I suspect connections will have Selma De Vary as their number one hope for the latter contest and, as things stand, we’re yet to see anything worthy of taking Lossiemouth’s Champion Hurdle crown.
Dan Skelton has confirmed Mydaddypaddy will stay hurdling with a view to the Champion Hurdle, and he did little wrong when third to Old Park Star in the Supreme. David Casey suggested King Rasko Grey could be an Arkle contender this season, despite his prominence in the Champion Hurdle betting.
Kopek Des Bordes, Old Park Star and Narciso Has also look to be going chasing this season, so outside of Mydaddypaddy, the only plausible challengers to Lossiemouth at this stage are the likes of William Munny, Idaho Sun, Brighterdaysahead and Alexei. It’ll take something very special to topple the grey in March, and we’re likely to see her reappear in either the Hatton’s Grace or the Morgiana.
Champion Chase winner – Il Etait Temps
You’d struggle to find a horse who looks less like a champion chaser physically than Il Etait Temps, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in heart, as the Jukebox Jury gelding has rapidly become a dominant force in two-mile Grade 1s.
Despite Grade 1 wins at Leopardstown, Punchestown and Sandown, a Cheltenham win had eluded him in three previous attempts. However, after taking a heavy fall in the Clarence House Chase, he returned to action to bolt up in the Champion Chase last season. Now, I do wonder whether we can pick apart that form, despite its visual excellence.
His most credible rival, Majborough, jumped appallingly throughout, the Skelton-trained L’Eau Du Sud ran below par having already been put in his place by Il Etait Temps, and the winner was sandwiched either side by veterans Liberty Hunter and Captain Guinness. I’d suggest it was a fairly weak Champion Chase, but he did back it up when comfortably taking the Punchestown Champion Chase, matching the highest RPR (179) in the race in the last ten years.
The eight-time winner is now well established as one of the leading two-mile chasers, and we’ll likely see him at either Clonmel or Thurles. If it’s the former, then a return to his beloved Sandown in the Tingle Creek could also be on the agenda.
He’s the current favourite for the Champion Chase, and again it doesn’t look the most open of divisions. Kopek Des Bordes has something to prove mentally this year, having been keen as a novice last term, while Kargese could throw her hat into the ring but has plenty to find on ratings.
I’d suggest Majborough will be stepping up in trip, and I think Marine Nationale’s peak form may be behind him. It’ll take something untoward to come out of the woodwork and beat Il Etait Temps at this stage, but I’d like to revisit this later in the season, as I still have suspicions over his Cheltenham form given the weakness of last year’s Champion Chase.
Stayers’ Hurdle winner – Home By The Lee
It was fifth time lucky for Home By The Lee in the Stayers’ Hurdle, as the resurgent 11-year-old sprang a surprise to beat Ballyburn and two recent winners of the race in Bob Olinger and Teahupoo.
He proved his return to form was no fluke, despite nearly being sold that season, as he took the Liverpool Hurdle next time out.
Home By The Lee is set to keep on racing this season and is likely to begin his campaign in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan. However, he’d be bidding to become the oldest winner of the race since Zarane in 1927.
This season, there are a couple of interesting new candidates in a staying division that looked to be coming to the end of its tether last year. The New Lion didn’t have the gears for a Champion Hurdle but wasn’t disgraced, and is likely to be campaigned for the Stayers’ this season.
Home By The Lee’s stablemate Zeus Power was third in the Turners’ before winning the three-mile Sefton Novices’ Hurdle, and he’s likely to be campaigned towards the Stayers’ too. Jasmin De Vaux is reportedly back in fine form, and if he can return to the level he was at in 2025, he’ll be a threat to all.
Gold Cup winner – Gaelic Warrior
Gaelic Warrior has finally shed his tag as something of an enigma, having belatedly found a level of consistency that marks him out as one of the best Gold Cup winners of the modern era.
Long gone are the days of the Maxios gelding agonisingly letting punters down in the Fred Winter. He won the John Durkan on seasonal debut, beating Fact To File by a neck, before a short-head defeat in the King George.
Fact To File reversed the John Durkan form in the Irish Gold Cup, but Gaelic Warrior produced a sparkling performance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup to pull eight lengths clear of Jango Baie, earning an RPR just a pound lower than Galopin Des Champs’ success.
He effectively won the race without being hard pressed, and he backed that up when demolishing the opposition in the Punchestown Gold Cup, beating Fact To File by 26 lengths and undoubtedly becoming one of the best, if not the best, winners of the race.
He is a year older and would have to become the first ten-year-old since Cool Dawn in 1998 to win the race, but it’s hard to believe he’s stopped progressing, let alone stagnated, and we still might not have scratched the surface with him.
Jango Baie is entitled to get closer, and Nicky Henderson also has Lulamba, who looks set to go up in trip this season. However, as things stand, there’s very little to suggest Gaelic Warrior will have his crown taken from him in March, and the John Durkan will be the likely starting point.