The New Lion: The new big thing?

BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle: The case for The New Lion

By Ben Linfoot

Horse Racing

Sat November 29, 2025 · 3w ago

Ben Linfoot makes the case for The New Lion going into Saturday's BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.

*Slow hand clap*

Well done, Dave. You make a convincing case for a horse 11lb clear on official ratings. But jury, be careful here. My learned friend has a habit of living in the past. His favourite drink is Tetley’s. Eight Bruce Springsteen hits occupy his Spotify top 10.

Of course he’s pining for the old Constitution Hill; the Constitution Hill that took our breath away in that Supreme Novices’; the Constitution Hill that beat State Man by nine lengths in the Champion Hurdle.

He was a monster. But let us remove those rose-tinted spectacles for a second. That Champion Hurdle was two-and-a-half years ago. And he hasn’t run anywhere near that level of form in seven drama-laden starts since.

So ask yourself, jury. Do you think The New Lion can achieve an adjusted Timeform figure in excess of 171+? Because that’s the best Constitution Hill has come up with in the last two-and-a-half years, in last year’s Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

The New Lion has recorded adjusted Timeform figures of 138+, 152+ and 167+ on his last three starts. He is a seriously progressive horse. That last figure came in a red-hot Turners Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival where in third was a certain Final Demand.

Final Demand wowed on chasing debut and is 6/4 for the Brown Advisory. The New Lion had too many gears for him at Cheltenham and gears is what he will need dropping back in trip to two miles – his first go at the distance since winning a Market Rasen bumper on debut in April 2024.

But all throughout his novice hurdling campaign he suggested he has all the attributes to thrive over this trip.

The way he travels so strongly. The way he nimbly negotiates his hurdles. As soon as he won the Turners you thought ‘Champion Hurdle’ and the 2m5f race has been a well-worn platform for such types in the past; the likes of Istabraq, Hardy Eustace, Rock On Ruby and Faugheen.

The New Lion looks another one.

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And his trainer Dan Skelton is riding the crest of a wave right now. Already this season he’s won the Shloer Chase, the Haldon Gold Cup, the Paddy Gold Cup and the Betfair Chase. He’s improved Kabral Du Mathan a stone in one start since he arrived from Paul Nicholls.

L’Eau du Sud, Panic Attack and Grey Dawning were primed to the minute for their first starts of the campaign with no prep run. The New Lion will be the same. He won’t be short of a gallop and Skelton talking up Constitution Hill pre-Newcastle is just common sense. Take the pressure off Harry, let the horse do the talking.

Tactically it will be fascinating. None of the Fighting Fifth five usually make the running. The New Lion is usually held up, but that’s over two and a half miles. Perhaps over two Harry Skelton won’t be shy in utilising his proven stamina.

Either way The New Lion looks a formidable rival for Constitution Hill. Fresh young six-year-old legs, that have had just five unbeaten career starts, from the best yard in Britain, against the older bones of a turning nine Constitution Hill who was a mere shadow of his former self the last time he was seen in a race at Punchestown.

Sadly, Constitution Hill’s jumping issues that surfaced after Christmas last season were an indication of his decline. Nicky Henderson has orchestrated great comebacks in the past, the likes of Sprinter Sacre, but this is different.

This is the two-mile hurdling division where precocity and speed and thriving horses reign over those that have been to the well too often to cope. Two nine-year-olds have won the Champion Hurdle in the last 30-odd years – Rooster Booster and Hurricane Fly. The younger brigade usually have this division to themselves.

Of course, this isn’t the Champion Hurdle. It’s the Fighting Fifth and the 11-year-old Not So Sleepy won it two years ago. But he was an anomaly. A total of 17 horses aged four to seven have won amongst the 25 renewals this century.

This isn’t a two-horse race, either. But Golden Ace would need as many accidents as there were in the Champion Hurdle to prevail, Nemean Lion shouldn’t be anywhere near good enough and Anzadam would be at least twice the price if he wasn’t trained by WP Mullins.

The noises coming out of Seven Barrows are undeniably strong. Henderson says he’s done more jumping this prep with Constitution Hill than he has done with any other horse ever. Remarkably, he’s forced his way into favouritism at around 11/8 ahead of 7/4 The New Lion.

But cut through the noise. This is time to bet with your head, not with your heart. The market has ‘done an Ord’ and favoured nostalgia over cold, hard, recent evidence. Put simply, The New Lion, as long as he’s second favourite, looks a bet. It’s time for the new kid on the block.

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