Our Trackside team look back on the Cheltenham Festival novice races to pick out some horses to follow.
Mighty Park (Willie Mullins)
10 March - Cheltenham - Supreme Novices' Hurdle
Well-backed in the lead-up to the Festival and subject to a drift before the off, Mighty Park was one of the talking horses from the Mullins yard.
It was a big ask for a gelding who had only won a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse to step into the amphitheatre of Cheltenham and he was in awe of the hustle and bustle, remaining gentlemanly but starstruck. Physically, Mighty Park did not present like a horse ready for a Supreme - think Gold Cup type in three years, instead. Dwarfing the other horses, he looks to stand at near 17hh and fits the classic 'unfurnished, raw' description. Simply said, this gelding will be a beast in one or two years when he fills into his frame.
Taking keen hold in the early stages, Mighty Park travelled well for a long time before weakening tamely to finish a well-beaten ninth of ten completers. Add him to the notebook and wait for the novice chasing campaign.
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Zeus Power (Joseph O’Brien)
11 March – Cheltenham – Turners Novices’ Hurdle
It was a tricky week for punters and paddock-watchers alike, with seemingly obscure results and plenty of hitting the bar.
In the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, there were two clear stand-outs in the paddock – Act Of Innocence and Zeus Power, from the Joseph O’Brien yard. The latter didn’t know what price he was and strolled round the paddock with the quality and presence of a true Grade 1 horse; powerful and strong. Winner of a maiden hurdle at Thurles and a novice hurdle at Navan, the five-year-old gelding didn’t have the form to match with the best in the field but his prior experience – five previous starts – appeared to be a benefit.
The in-running comments are a difficult read for the race itself. He was hampered early, lacking for running room before the third-last fence before hitting top gear up the hill, charging home for a three-and-a-quarter length third behind the classy King Rasko Grey and Act Of Innocence.
This wasn’t a fluke of a performance: keep an eye on Zeus Power going forward.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsBroadway Ted (Gordon Elliott)
11 March – Cheltenham - Weatherbys Champion Bumper
We tend to focus on the horses towards the front of the field as ones-to-follow out of the Champion Bumper, but unseasonably good ground could factor in improvement for some further down the field.
Gordon Elliott’s Broadway Ted was undoubtedly a stand-out in the paddock. He’s not the most aesthetically pleasing – all angles and gawky teenager, but fitness was not in any question. The form of the yard, however…
As a two-time winner on heavy ground, both at Ayr and Leopardstown, it was a vast change in going conditions for the gelding and he failed to get involved, despite making some late progress with four furlongs to run. Sean Bowen could find no further effort and he weakened back into seventeenth, beating only four home.
Get some rain in the ground and we’ll see a different horse.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsJackie Hobbs (Harry Derham)
12 March – Cheltenham - Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle
If we could put White Noise up from the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, we would – what an impressive mare – but it feels churlish not to find something a little more under the radar for next season.
When Jackie Hobbs walked into the paddock at Ascot in February 2025, she looked like a catwalk model at Paris Fashion Week. She had a look of quality, moved well and simply knocked the eye out – but it hasn’t quite worked out how we would have expected. She’s fallen short in Group company on multiple occasions (beaten in the Aintree mares bumper and the Listed mares’ novices’ hurdle at Haydock) but has shown her class with multiple victories in lower level competition.
Her form tells a story, but we’re not convinced they’ve reached the bottom of Jackie Hobbs yet. She didn’t catch the eye in the paddock at Cheltenham; across the board, we felt that the Harry Derham runners had looked sharper earlier in the year and she fell into the same category. Yet arguably Jackie Hobbs put up a career best with a fifth behind White Noise, enjoying the strongly run race to make late ground up the hill.
Is she a Grade 1 winner in the waiting over hurdles? Probably not, but there’s more to come from this mare and it’ll be interesting to see if she’s put over fences next season – she has the athleticism to make a strong transition.
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