THE BIG JUMP OFF The 50 Racing Post to follow

Altobelli

Trainer: Harry Fry

Was a well-backed winner of an Exeter bumper in February and the second, Ginny’s Destiny, went on to boost the form by winning in good style at Chepstow. This four-year-old is by an up-and-coming sire in Maxios and he has the physique to make up into a talented hurdler before fences beckon.

Backintheroom Paul Nolan

Nolan has some nice young horses to go to war with this season, and this once-raced half-brother to the stable’s high-class mare Mrs Milner certainly has a future. He was well backed to win a maiden hurdle on debut at Gowran in March and, despite being bred to stay a lot further, he delivered in good style. He overcame a couple of ropey early jumps to travel strongly into contention and did little more than he had to in winning cosily.

Ballygrifincottage Dan Skelton

Progressive last season and finished his campaign when fourth in the Albert Bartlett. Fences could be the making of him as he looks a big scopey type and he has stamina in abundance which makes him a contender for the Brown Advisory or the National Hunt Chase.

Between Waters Nicky Henderson

Henderson has been drooling over this filly, who could be special if his words are anything to go by. A convincing point-to-point winner in February, she was at Seven Barrows in the spring and came close to running, but the experience of being in training has not been wasted on her.

Blazing Khal Charles Byrnes

Flooring Porter might be king of the staying hurdlers but, as we saw at Aintree, he is beatable, and results proved Blazing Khal to be just about the best staying novice around before injury curtailed his progress last season. All should be well with him now, though, and if he does stay over hurdles he’d be the heir apparent in that division.

Bravemansgame Paul Nicholls

Missed Cheltenham because of the ground and flopped at Aintree afterwards but Bravemansgame looks set for a huge season.

Few novices have been as impressive as him on his first four starts and, while it remains to be seen whether

Cheltenham will be his game, the King George most certainly will be. Options are open to him regarding a Cheltenham target as he is not short of speed and perhaps the Ryanair might be his race at this stage of his career.

Cobblers Dream

Ben Case

Failed to show his form at Aintree in April but was a progressive novice hurdler otherwise last season, including a comfortable success in the Lanzarote and good second in the Martin Pipe, in which he fared clear best of the British-trained runners. He has schooled well over fences and should be a productive novice chaser this term, with a resumption of his improvement looking very much on the cards.

Corach Rambler

Lucinda Russell

Maintained his 100 per cent record at Cheltenham when coming from miles behind to win the Ultima last season and looks sure to be competitive in top handicaps such as the Coral Gold Cup before graduating into Graded races. Could be one for the National too.

Cougar

Padraig Roche

From the same connections of last season’s Boodles winner Brazil, Cougar made a solid start to hurdling when winning at Gowran in early October. Rated 92 on the Flat for Aidan O’Brien, like Brazil he is still a colt and being by Deep Impact is regally bred. It will be interesting to see how high he can feature in the juvenile ranks this season.

Dubrovnik Harry

Harry Fry

Fry took his time with this newcomer last term and it could pay dividends over fences this season. The six-yearold son of Yeats shaped like the best horse in the EBF Final at Sandown in March, a race which often produces top staying chasers, and his form beforehand reads smartly too. Watch out for him in handicaps in the second half of the season.

First Street

Nicky Henderson

Second behind State Man in the County Hurdle and probably better than the bare form. He was under pressure earlier than most of the principals and raced on the inside of the track, when the action developed towards the stands’ side. He kept on strongly to chase the winner all the way to the line and pull clear of the remainder. A step up in trip could unlock further improvement.

Fury Road

Gordon Elliott

Outside of the first three only once last season, including when an impressive winner in a Grade 1 Novice Chase at Leopardstown in December. Last season would have been very much a learning curve for the Gigginstown-owned eight-yearold and if he has improved since his second behind Ahoy Senor at Aintree in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase in April he could be an outside bet for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Gaillard Du Mesnil

Willie Mullins

The six-year-old failed to win in his first season over fences but displayed a high level of form behind the likes of Bob Olinger and Galopin Des

Champs before strong placed efforts in the Brown Advisory and Irish Grand National. He retains his novice status for the 2022-23 season and boasts a standout profile for the National Hunt Chase, a race for which the 7-1 makes plenty of appeal.

Ga Law Jamie Snowden

Was enjoying a very promising novice chase campaign in 2020-21 before injury ruled him out for the season. Has not been seen since finishing second to Tamaroc Du Mathan in a Grade 2 at Kempton in February but is reportedly back and working well. Has been dropped 8lb by the handicapper since his last run and could prove very well handicapped off a mark of 142. The Paddy Power Gold Cup will be his likely target.

Gericault Roque David Pipe

Looks a chase winner waiting to happen. Indeed, he appears to have a very good prize in him. He proved thoroughly consistent switched to chasing last season, producing form figures of 32222, and his last two efforts came in major handicaps, the Classic Chase and the Ultima. Still a youngster with time on his side, he looks sure to go one better before long. A breakthrough win over fences could well lead to further success.

Green Vault Lucinda Russell

The pick of a promising bunch of novice chasers for Lucinda Russell could be Green Vault, who impressed with his two handicap hurdle wins in January. The lightly raced six-year-old has experience in point-to-points and his form can go to the next level when switched to fences.

Ha’Dor

Willie Mullins

A second-season novice last campaign and got his head in front just once, but produced some classy performances in defeat, notably when second to El Fabiolo in a Grade 1 at Punchestown. Could go chasing this year, but he is off a nice mark (138) if connections decide to keep him over hurdles.

Harbour Lake Alan King

Has won all of his completed starts, with his only defeat coming when being brought down at Huntingdon last season. Kicked off this campaign with a cozy victory at Market Rasen in a 2m4½f handicap hurdle last week off a mark of 130. He remains unexposed and would be of interest in a big handicap hurdle like the Greatwood, a race his trainer has an excellent record in.

Holly

Jonjo O’Neill

Been off the track since her impressive win at Wincanton in December, a race that has produced plenty of winners since. An opening mark of 125 looks lenient from the handicapper and she could easily pick upa decent

handicap during the season before going on to bigger targets in the spring.

Hopeforarun Charles Byrnes

This filly showed a good deal of promise in a traditionally strong fouryear-old bumper at the Punchestown festival. She was very green, coming wide into the straight before finishing her race well. She looks like she’ll appreciate soft ground over the winter and could be capable of any amount of improvement.

Imperial Alcazar Fergal O’Brien

Although he won only one of his four races as a novice chaser, he managed to post a Racing Post Rating of 160 when running out an impressive winner of a traditionally informative handicap on Trials Day prior to another solid run at the festival. An official rating of 153 looks generous and, versatile ground-wise, he looks the type to land a big handicap pot.

Jet Powered Nicky Henderson

After slamming a decent field on his Irish point debut last December, it wasn’t a surprise that the well-bred Jet Powered made 350,000gns at the sales later that month. He now embarks on a career under rules for Nicky Henderson in the famous silks of Marie Donnelly and ought to prove Graded class.

Jonbon Nicky Henderson

Henderson is no stranger to housing a top-class two-mile chaser and Jonbon looks the next in line following an excellent novice hurdle campaign that finished with a Grade 1 win at Aintree. A brother to topclass chaser Douvan, who won the Arkle, this athletic sort is expected to run up a sequence over fences before heading to Cheltenham with major claims.

Journey With Me Henry de Bromhead

Looked a top prospect when following his emphatic bumper win with two victories over hurdles and it would be astonishing if he didn’t have more improvement to come. He didn’t give his running at Punchestown on his final start as he needs soft or heavy ground.

Granted those conditions he will be a force in all the top staying races this term.

Jungle Boogie Willie Mullins

We haven’t seen a lot of this eightyear-old but there is little doubt we are dealing with a top prospect. In Jungle Boogie’s three starts he has landed a bumper, a hurdle race and a chase by an aggregate of nearly 46 lengths, and he created a huge impression when slamming the 146-rated chaser Diol Ker at Fairyhouse. Fragile but an excellent jumper with more to offer.

King Orry Sue Gardner

King Orry was backed several times last season as though considered well handicapped off a mark in the 70s. A big strapping horse with plenty of physical scope, he ran as though still weak, and could prove a totally different proposition if he has strengthened up for a summer’s rest.

He’s emphatically one to watch out for in 3m handicap chases around the West Country circuits.

Lossiemouth Willie Mullins

This French-bred ran away with a three-year-old mares’ hurdle at Auteuil in April this year and is already among the favourites for the Triumph Hurdle. Ante-post punters should note that her April success rules her out of running in the mares’ novice at the festival. She is reportedly very exciting.

Magic Daze Henry de Bromhead

Disappointed in the Arkle but bounced back in terrific style at Punchestown. The mares’ chase division seems rather weak but Magic Daze certainly has the ability to take very high rank in it. It will be disappointing if she didn’t stay further than two miles. If she can it would open a few doors.

Marine Nationale

Barry Connell

Impressive winner of a bumper at the Punchestown festival and he followed up with another big performance at Killarney. The form is working out really well with the fourth and eighth from Punchestown winning next time out and the second in the Killarney bumper also won his next start. It’ll be interesting to see what trip brings out the best of this five-year-old but connections will be aiming him at some of the top Irish novice hurdles.

Major Dundee Alan King

Was a decent novice hurdler but a switch to the fences were the making of him last season, winning two from his four starts, finishing the campaign with a very good third in the Scottish Grand National. Big staying handicap chases will be on his agenda again this season and he is still very well handicapped off 132.

Might I Harry Fry

Bumped into Constitution Hill, Jonbon and Three Stripe Life during his novice hurdle campaign but clearly has a touch of class about him, as shown when second to Three Stripe Life in the Grade 1 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. Grade 1 hurdles might be a touch too far for him this season, but he kicks off the season off a very appealing mark of 142 which would give him a big chance in races like the Greatwood

Hurdle.

Mister Coffey

Nicky Henderson Took a while to get going over fences last season but was unlucky not to win the Kim Muir at the festival. He was disappointing in the Topham on his next start but goes into the season off a workable mark of 140 and will have plenty of the big handicap chases on his radar.

Nickle Back Sarah Humphrey

Twice-raced hurdler who proved his 66-1 second in a Southwell novice hurdle last March was no fluke with an emphatic 30-length victory at Ffos Las in October. Nickle Back recorded an RPR of 143 that day and could emerge as a real star providing he has recovered from an ailment which ruled him out for the remainder of last season.

O’Toole

Stuart Crawford

Touted as the best horse in Crawford’s yard, O’Toole was always seen as a long-term prospect and was carefully handled after splitting Kilcruit and Sir Gerhard when second in a Grade 1 bumper at the Punchestown festival last year. A mark of 124 could underestimate him if he remains over hurdles, but he’s definitely one to watch if sent over fences as that will be the making of him.

Passing Well

Jamie Snowden

This gelding was an eyecatching second at the Punchestown festival and changed hands for plenty of cash, but he might be the best young horse Snowden has had for a number of years. He is set to begin his British career in November and is worth noting.

Poetic Music Fergal O’Brien

O’Brien had some useful bumper mares at his disposal last term, but top of the list was Poetic Music. After winning her first three starts, which included a Cheltenham Listed contest on New Year’s Day, she was thrown in at the deep end against the boys in the Champion Bumper and excelled herself in sixth. Plenty of success awaits over hurdles this season.

Quais De Paris Willie Mullins

By St Leger winner Masked Marvel out of a mare who won over hurdles in France, Quais De Paris was picked up by Mullins for €180,000 after running third on his debut at Compiegne last October and put away for a novice campaign this season. The winner of that French race is now on a run of four comfortable successes, the last two in Grade 3 chases, and it would be no surprise if Quais De Paris ranked among the top novices in the yard this season.

Readysteadybeau Lucinda Russell

Horses from Lucinda Russell’s yard traditionally improve bundles when tackling fences and this six-year-old should be no different. Stamina was very much his strong suit over hurdles and it is likely he will evolve into a progressive staying chaser on testing ground this season.

Redemption Day Willie Mullins

Made a huge impression on his bumper debut before a somewhat disappointing run in the Champion Bumper. The heavy ground may have been to blame and he bounced back at Punchestown to give Facile Vega an almighty scare. You’d imagine he and Facile Vega would be kept apart and the 14-1 to win the Ballymore is enticing.

Red Rookie Emma Lavelle

Boasts quietly strong form on all of his runs last season and was in the process of outrunning odds of 80-1 in the Arkle when falling at the last. Starts the season on a mark of 140 and likely to be winning handicaps. His connections tend to target 2m races away from the mud, which is in accordance with his pedigree.

Shan Blue Dan Skelton

Comes into this season off a very appealing mark of 148. Shan Blue was going to win the Charlie Hall by an enormous margin before coming down at the third-last. That crunching fall ruled him out for a chunk of the season but, because of where he fell, the handicapper couldn’t touch him. He was down the field in the Ryanair and then a distant second off this mark in a handicap chase at Aintree. Connections seem keen on the Charlie Hall again, but he would be very hard to beat off his current mark should they decide to reroute him.

State Man Willie Mullins

Last season’s County Hurdle was one of the strongest races of the entire season. It was run in a time 4.6 seconds faster than the Triumph Hurdle, won by Vauban, over the same course and distance just 40 minutes earlier and State Man absolutely bolted up, going to the last on the bridle and clearing right away. He could prove a threat to the big two in the Champion Hurdle or is a big contender for the Arkle if going chasing.

The Widdow Maker

Joe Tizzard

A 130+ hurdler who took well to fences in the second half of last season, making a winning chasing debut at Exeter and finishing a decent third in Grade 1 company at Aintree. Open to plenty of improvement and should prove a lot better than his opening mark of 140.

Three Stripe Life Gordon Elliott

This monstrous Elliott inmate was championship class in bumpers and a Grade 1-winning novice hurdler, but it’s always been about chasing for him. This term he ought to rise to the top of the tree in novice chases and it will be fascinating to see what his optimum distance proves to be.

Threeunderthrufive Paul Nicholls

Travelled well for a long way in the Brown Advisory before the gruelling conditions eventually took their toll. Not one to give up on though as that was a very strong festival Grade 1 and he could be a big player in some of the biggest handicap chases this season.

Unexpected Party Dan Skelton

Found the conditions and trip too much in the Coral Cup and looks the type to improve massively when dropped back to 2m. Has the option of going chasing but a race like the Greatwood could be on the agenda first.

Valsheda Nicky Henderson

Potentially one of the besthandicapped chasers in training off 129. This strapping sort is well bred (by Milan out of a Grade 2 bumper winner) and on his last two starts ran into Killer Kane off 120 (won a Listed handicap next time) and picked up best in a competitive little race at Ffos Las. Has run only five times and will climb the grades as he learns and his stamina is teased out.

Walking On Air Nicky Henderson

The five-year-old trounced the 122-rated Heshouldbetheone by 13 lengths on his hurdles debut at Newbury in January, when he looked like a future Graded performer. He missed Cheltenham but it all went wrong for him at Aintree, where his lack of experience told. Whether he stays hurdling or goes chasing there are plenty of races to be won with him this season.

Washington Olly Murphy

Held in high regard by his connections but perhaps didn’t reach the heights they’d have hoped. That said, he was running in small fields for most of the season and his two runs where the field size was double digits brought a victory (Bangor first time out) and his best run to date when third in a valuable handicap hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National meeting. One to keep on side off a low handicap mark of 128.

Warriors Story Nick Alexander

This lightly raced six-year-old looked miles ahead of the handicapper when making a mockery of a mark of 84 over 2m4f at Newcastle in April. The horse he beat that day, Johnson’s Blue, subsequently improved his official rating by 26lb with four straight wins, and it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to envisage Warriors Story racking up a sequence too.

Which match-ups or horses are you most looking forward to this season?

Jane Mangan The talk about Constitution Hill and the record that Honeysuckle has, those things have completely overshadowed the likes of Vauban and State Man, who could literally be anything as well at this stage. The next generation of Champion Hurdle contenders are going to give the mare her biggest challenge in her final year. That’s a perfect storm, isn’t it?

Nicky Henderson There are two obvious ones:

Constitution Hill and Honeysuckle, and then Shishkin and Energumene. I’d like another Clarence House outcome for Shishkin. Cheltenham was a disaster but he’s in very good form now.

Tony Mullins Galopin Des Champs, he looked like something else. There’s the chance of a Kauto Star-type horse, I’m hoping he’ll get into that bracket. What happened at Cheltenham was one of those unfortunate, unbelievable things.

Dan Skelton Everybody versus Honeysuckle is probably the one. And then one of my early things to get done is see if we can get Shan Blue to win the Charlie Hall after last year’s mishap.

Chris Cook The Gold Cup picture looks open to flux and we don’t have just one dominant horse, so that division will be fun to track.

I’d love Ahoy Senor to have a big season and be a standard-bearer for Scottish racing.

What would you do to shake up the jumps race programme?

JM This year, it is regrettable that Cheltenham is going to be so close to Aintree and Punchestown. I think the prize-money for the big handicaps is luring away good horses. Djakadam winning the Thyestes, should he not be in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown? I’m not saying these races shouldn’t be valuable but they’re more lucrative than many of the Grade 1s and I would question whether that’s right. In Britain, you centralise your staying chase division around handicaps, like the ones at Cheltenham and Newbury in November. But ultimately, they’re not class, unless you have Royale Pagaille giving a stone to everything. The British system is too focused on handicap chases rather than weight for age.

NH I know the field sizes are what everybody’s looking at but you’ve still got to have races that cater for the better horses. I think if we could have a bit more imagination in the day-to-day programming. They all just go novice hurdle, novice handicap chase and then handicaps; it’s monotonous. You know what the cards are going to say before you look. You can vary races so much more and they do it in Ireland, races for horses who haven’t yet done this or that.

TM There’s an imbalance of power. During the recession in 2007 to 2009, Gigginstown came to the fore and JP [McManus] as well, and the British lost the likes of the Moulds and a few great ones. It was a perfect storm. I don’t think there’s much wrong with the programme. A few amazing things happened at the one time to throw the balance of power towards Ireland. And then a lot of good English owners sent their horses to Willie and Gordon. It’s going to do the game damage but it will go back. I hope there’s not a knee-jerk reaction. It’ll level itself out. There’s top-class trainers in Britain.

DS I genuinely believe we have too much racing and I was disappointed we didn’t cut back. There’s lots of evidence to say we’ve got way too many races and I’ve a feeling the winter will confirm it. I’d get rid of a lot of races and have a dedicated two or three-day festival as a warmup for the spring targets, like they do in Dublin. I’d move the Grand National meeting to the end of the season and give horses more of a gap after Cheltenham. Not that many Irish horses come to Aintree, apart from the National, and not many English horses go to Punchestown.

CC I’m not really in favour of shaking up anything that I’ve enjoyed so much for 40 years. I’d like to see one of the central bodies take responsibility for ensuring an adequate flow of future jumps horses into the game, challenging as that may be. There aren’t many industries where you get away with assuming the raw material will keep turning up. I’d rather have that as the focus than cutting back on races, which could be the start of a spiral.

Should the Cheltenham Festival be five days?

JM No. We’ve sold our soul as it is. I have no problem with it being four. I get that some people think there are races that shouldn’t be there but as it stands, I think it’s fine. Don’t underestimate the intelligence of our viewers and our fans. They know that not every race at Cheltenham is fantastic, despite the fact that it’s run at Cheltenham.

NH I’m on the fence, I see both sides. It’s a benefit if you could start at 2pm because you’d have one race less per day and you can spread it out, if it were five days. I don’t really see a downside but some people don’t want another day. I’m not saying, you must do this.

TM It’s financially successful but even going to four days, for me, took away from that absolute championship meeting. If it’s financially sensible, I suppose we have to go with it. I’m one of those absolute diehards that loved the three days. These handicaps and giving the 2m5f horses a chance, it’s all working, financially.

DS Absolutely not. The vast majority of horses rated high enough to be there are already there. Those who miss it do so for tactical or course-related reasons. To fill the fields, you’re either going to have to create races which will take away from existing races or attract lower-graded horses.

CC I can live with it but they should earn that expansion by first taking action to restore former levels of

Grade 1-winning trainer competitiveness in the existing festival races. Sixteen of the 28 winners this year were 3-1 or shorter, compared to four out of 20 in 2002, when the festival was just three days long. We’re losing the competitive tension that used to get us so excited.

Are too many of the good horses in too few hands – and can anything be done to redress the balance?

JM Yes, there are too few trainers with too many of the best horses. That is not their fault. It’s getting harder to compete. People are being offered sums of money that they cannot turn down for promising young horses. I don’t agree with a limit [on number of horses] because I don’t agree with sanctioning the likes of Willie Mullins or Paul Nicholls for being the best at what they do. It’s up to the next trainer with ambition to get the right clients and be as good as their opposition.

NH What can you do? You can’t say, you’ve got too many, I’m going to give these ones to someone else. It’s the owner’s prerogative to have the horse trained where they want.

There is an element that good horses make good horses. It happens. You get a bunch of horses each year, your novices, say. If some are good, the others have got to keep up.

It’s amazing how it helps them.

TM It’s nearly put me out of business, so I’m certainly against it. But it’s great to see my brother as champion trainer. I suppose, during the recession, the powerful got more powerful and the weak got weaker. I don’t know if the weaker yards can ever come back again. Whatever about capping the number they train, I’m vehemently against a trainer having six, seven or eight runners in a race, regardless of how many owners [are involved].

DS I’m perhaps one of those few hands, so it’d be convenient for me to say no. I probably believe the answer is no. Are too many of the good footballers at the top eight teams in the Premier League? Market forces dictate where they go. I started with a strong hand but your results talk and if I’d made a mess of it, I’d have soon been forgotten.

CC Yes. Until 2009, no trainer had won more than four races at a single festival. This year, Willie Mullins won ten – great for him and his team. But you have to worry about the sport’s appeal to the audience; the case of characters is being reduced, outcomes are more predictable. We should seriously consider capping the number of horses one person can train, or enter for a single race or festival, as a way of shoring up the number of trainers who can survive and compete on the big stage.

Who do you fancy for the Gold Cup?

‘Galopin Des Champs looked like something else. I’m hoping he’ ll get into the Kauto Star bracket’

‘A Plus Tard will be hard to beat but Protektorat hasn’t had many goes at a staying trip’ Dan Skelton

JM I think A Plus Tard is more than capable of defending his crown. He’s never been overraced and he won his Gold

Cup by 15 lengths. He’s got incredible pace for a horse who can stay that trip; he beat Chacun Pour Soi over two miles at Leopardstown. He deserves to be favourite. Ahoy Senor would win the Stayers’ Hurdle, I think.

NH I think the door’s a little bit open, no disrespect to A Plus Tard. I’m told Shishkin is in the betting, but I can’t say I had this race in mind for him.

TM Galopin Des Champs. A Plus Tard is very good, but for me the other one is Allaho. He’s an absolutely brilliant horse.

DS We’re going to aim Protektorat there again. There used to be a saying, if they don’t win it first time, they don’t win it, but Native River and A Plus Tard have done it and we’d like to be the third one in recent history. A Plus Tard is going to be hard to beat and everyone will talk about Galopin Des Champs. Protektorat hasn’t had many goes at a staying trip and he was over the top at Aintree last time.

CC L’Homme Presse appeals as a bit of each-way value at 16-1 with Unibet. He was still finding when he hit the line in March. There’s more to come.

And the Champion Hurdle?

JM I understand the hype behind Constitution Hill, in view of the times and everything he’s achieved. Honeysuckle has done it and she’s unbeaten. She’s probably the best mare we’ve seen since Dawn Run and she deserves to be favourite. But people like to back potential and Constitution Hill is an example of that. As it stands, she’s the dual champion and he’s a horse who’s yet to win a race in open company. I think the value bet is Vauban. He’s potentially one of those star

hurdlers that could win an Ascot Gold Cup or a Melbourne Cup.

NH This is obviously the plan for Constitution Hill. He’s absolutely fine, he’s in great shape. This time last year, I was trying to get weight on him, now I’m trying to get it off him. He’ll either go Fighting Fifth or the Ascot Hurdle. Epatante has got to come into the picture, she’s very, very well. She proved she stayed 2m4f last season, so that’s opened things up.

TM Constitution Hill looks brilliant and a friend of mine who’s quite good on sectional times says that his time in Cheltenham was just unbelievable. But I’ve always believed you should stick with a horse until you know its limits and no one has ever tested Honeysuckle yet. People love to see a ten-length winner on the bridle. Honeysuckle is never going to be that Golden

Cygnet type but if another horse finds six lengths, she can as well. She keeps doing it and she’s amazingly well trained and ridden.

DS We all have a habit of going for the younger horse but make no mistake, Honeysuckle is going to be hard to beat.

CC Much respect to Honeysuckle but there’s no arguing with the numbers Constitution Hill has been putting up.

Long-range shout: who wins the Grand National?

JM Longhouse Poet for me. I think they made a bit too much use of him last time, because he travelled so strongly and jumped so well. I thought he was the winner for much of the race. He could be a big player for a trainer, Martin Brassil, who’s won it before. Any Second Now looks too old. He’s going to be the best to not win the race since Clan Royal.

NH Well, don’t ask me! We had Chantry House entered last year and then he was disappointing in the Gold Cup. He’s had wind surgery and a back operation and I’m keen on where the horse is at the moment. What his campaign will be, I don’t know. But we were thinking along these lines last year. He’s a classy horse.

TM Put your hand in the bag and pick out whichever ball. There’s no standout horse at this stage. Just wait and see how the season progresses.

DS I wouldn’t even have a poke at the race at the minute. I might have a couple for it but we’ll have to see how their season goes and I don’t want to get their owners too excited this early. Noble Yeats has got time on his side because of the age he is. Because of Tiger Roll, we know horses can back it up in the National and Noble

Yeats deserves to be at the top of the market.

CC Lifetime Ambition looked a likely sort in Graded novice races in the spring. Robbie Power recommended the National route for him and Jessica Harrington tells me it’s the aim. He’s 33-1 in places, though not all firms have quoted him yet.

If you had to back one horse for one race this season, who would it be?

‘We all have a habit of going for the younger horse, but Honeysuckle will be hard to beat’

Dan Skelton

JM I’d have to back Facile Vega for the Supreme. He’s an absolute jet.

NH It’s certainly not going to be one of ours. I gather people are getting excited about

Facile Vega but I’d hope we’ll find something for the Supreme in our locker somewhere.

TM Galopin Des Champs, every time he puts his foot on a racetrack. I think he’s potentially a superstar. Now he has yet to prove it but he’s the most exciting I’ve seen since Kauto Star.

DS Langer Dan each-way for the Stayers’ Hurdle. I haven’t a clue what price he is. 33-1? Lovely jubbly.

CC Allaho at 5-2 in places for the King George looks big, though there’s always that risk of being wrong-footed by a change of plan.