Cheltenham Festival handicap tips: Who qualified with fifth start over hurdles at the Dublin Racing Festival

The fifth amendment

It will be fascinating to see how many Cheltenham Festival handicap winners emerge from this year’s Dublin Racing Festival. What does your gut say? A couple, maybe three or four at a push?

There are 12 handicaps in total across the four days at Cheltenham and not one of them was won by a horse who ‘prepped’ at the DRF last season. Maybe it’s about now you’ll be wishing you could amend your initial guesstimate.

I’m not so sure, but it feels like the hurdle races are going to prove key to finding the right answer, as is typically the case.

For a bit of essential background, it’s worth reiterating that last year saw the introduction of a rule that requires novices to have had a minimum of five starts over hurdles to compete in the non-novice/juvenile handicap hurdle races at the Festival (County Hurdle, Coral Cup, Pertemps Final and Martin Pipe), while from the current campaign that now applies to all horses.

In 2025 the Coral Cup was won by non-novice Jimmy Du Seuil after just five starts over hurdles, the Martin Pipe was won by non-novice mare Wodhooh after six hurdles starts, and while Kargese had competed nine times over timber (three of which were in France) prior to landing the County Hurdle, she was followed home by Ndaawi (after six previous hurdle starts), Absurde (just four, lightly-raced non-novice) and Ethical Diamond (five, second-season novice).

Although we’re obviously working off very limited evidence in regard to the five-runs-per-novice rule, it’s pretty much always been the case – barring the Pertemps which remains something of an outlier – that young, lightly-raced improvers are going to prove most impactful when it comes to the principal handicap hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival, and there’s no reason to think otherwise based on last year’s results.

Mai the force be with you

Looking back over the past eight years, since the inception of the DRF, eight handicap hurdles at Cheltenham have been won via a Leopardstown stepping-stone.

So, who wasn’t eligible for such races until running at the weekend?

I make it 11 horses to have had their fifth qualifying hurdles run at the DRF and the most obvious one to kick off with is the Charles Byrnes-trained I Started A Joke, which felt like quite a fitting name as he traded at 11/8 with one firm on the morning of the 19-runner Padel At Leopardstown Golf Launching Spring 2026 Handicap Hurdle.

Sent off 7/4 in the end, he ran a fine race despite being foiled by Gordon Elliott’s Bowensonfire and has only been raised 4lb in Ireland (to 132).

Given the unusually testing ground on the hurdles track (described as ‘Heavy’ by Timeform), it’s perhaps no great surprise the more battle-hardened winner’s previous experience ultimately told but I Started A Joke is a novice to take very seriously for the remainder of the season.

He could be the sort to rock up in the Imperial Cup at Sandown before an inevitable trip to Cheltenham.

Bleu Berry finished well down the field in this event before winning the 2018 Coral Cup off a 1lb higher mark for Willie Mullins and the champion trainer had almost half the field this time, Kimi De Mai faring best of his nine with an eight-length third under Sean Cleary-Farrell - and qualifying for Cheltenham in the process.

The mare still has very few miles on the clock for a six-year-old and, from the family of Bristol De Mai, is likely to benefit from a step back up in trip despite failing to justify skinny odds in a two and a half-mile maiden at Punchestown on January 12.

Dame's best days still in front of her

Sticking with Sunday’s action, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy And Maureen Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle was run at a crawl and looked a muddling sort of affair. That’s not to take anything away from eventual winner Cousin Kate, who was given a clever ride by find-of-the-season Michael Kenneally, claiming 7lb.

Heaven Help Us pulled off the mares’ handicap/Coral Cup double five years ago and Denis Hogan clearly has a major late-bloomer on his hands as Cousin Kate only made her debut in September.

This was her eighth start over hurdles while, in behind, the second Dameauscottlestown, ninth Shoda, tenth Galileo Dame and the well-held 13th Adrienne were all having their fifth outing. Shoda and Galileo Dame are both trained by Joseph O’Brien and the latter, who finished sixth to Air Of Entitlement in last year’s Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and was far from disgraced here under a big weight, should head back to Prestbury Park with outside claims given her sliding handicap mark.

Time for another?

Interestingly, not one of the dozen who went to post for the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle won by Talk The Talk was having their fifth start over jumps. Plenty were taking their tally to four, though, which begs the question: is there time for another run?

The gruelling conditions might put paid to that idea but, equally, the beaten horses certainly won’t have been given too hard a time on that ground and in theory three starts within six weeks shouldn’t be an issue if connections are looking to get a BHA mark for the Festival.

Mullins won the 2024 County Hurdle with then-novice Absurde after an eyecatching fourth in this G1 event, while Galopin Des Champs famously finished sixth in it at 100/1 before bolting up at 8/1 in the 2021 Martin Pipe.

Sixth home Le Divin Enfant, sent off the shortest price of the Mullins trio after being well supported, is the only realistic potential handicap project from Closutton this time and his pedigree suggests the Martin Pipe trip would hold no fears if they can squeeze in another run somewhere in the interim.

Keep an eye on the upcoming entries for fourth Koktail Brut (Elliott) and fifth Blake (Noel Meade) in the next couple of weeks as well.

Manic Monday

A similar scenario played out in the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle and given there was a clear-cut winner in Doctor Steinberg, perhaps the beaten horses suddenly become more obvious spring handicap projects as a result of not wanting to meet the winner on equal terms again any time soon.

Killultagh Vic won the 2018 Martin Pipe after finishing third in this race when it was still run as a Grade 2 and, under the current rules, Kazansky, Love Me Tender, Santo Sospir and Yeshil will all need another spin in order to be given a mark at the big Cheltenham weights reveal in 20 days’ time.

Monday’s 0-150 Listed Race And Stay At Leopardstown Handicap Hurdle over three miles witnessed a handful of horses potentially put their hands up for a Festival entry.

Delta Work finished fourth in this race and then third in a Pertemps Qualifier at Punchestown a couple of weeks later before claiming his first Cheltenham triumph in the Final of that series and third He Can’t Dance represents the same Elliott/Gigginstown team. The last qualifying race is run at Naas these days towards the end of the month and I’d be amazed if this dour stayer didn’t feature among the possible entries. He'd need a top-four finish there, too.

The Emmet Mullins-trained pair Barra Rua and Dippedinmoonlight both shaped with promise in fourth and fifth respectively, while Willie Mullins’ Road To Home and Eclipse Chaser – also having their fifth starts - were pulled-up before the last flight and could obviously fare a bit better on less taxing ground.

Published at 16:00 GMT on 04/02/26

Horses who qualified for non-novice/juvenile Cheltenham Festival handicap hurdles at the DRF

• Dameauscottlestown – fifth hurdles run, 2nd in 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle, Sunday
• Shoda – fifth hurdles run, 9th in 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle, Sunday
• Galileo Dame – fifth hurdles run, 10th in 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle, Sunday
• Adrienne – fifth hurdles run, 13th in 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle, Sunday
• I Started A Joke – fifth hurdles run, 2nd in 2m handicap hurdle, Sunday
• Kimi De Mai – fifth hurdles run, 3rd in 2m handicap hurdle, Sunday
• He Can’t Dance – fifth hurdles run, 3rd in 3m handicap hurdle, Monday
• Barra Rua – fifth hurdles run, 4th in 3m handicap hurdle, Monday
• Dippedinmoonlight – fifth hurdles run, 3m handicap hurdle, Monday
• Road To Home – fifth hurdles run, PU in 3m handicap hurdle, Monday
• Eclipse Chaser – fifth hurdles run, PU in 3m handicap hurdle, Monday

Novices who need to run again before Cheltenham

• Koktail Brut – fourth hurdles run, 4th in 2m G1 novice hurdle, Sunday
• Blake – fourth hurdles run, 5th in 2m G1 novice hurdle, Sunday
• Le Divin Enfant – fourth hurdles run, 6th 2m in G1 novice hurdle, Sunday
• Kazansky – fourth hurdles run, 2nd in 2m6f G1 novice hurdle, Monday
• Love Me Tender – fourth hurdles run, 3rd in 2m6f G1 novice hurdle, Monday
• Santo Sospir – fourth hurdles run, 6th in 2m6f G1 novice hurdle, Monday
• Yeshil – fourth hurdles run, PU in 2m6f G1 novice hurdle, Monday

Cheltenham Festival handicap winners who ‘prepped’ at the DRF (since 2018)

Coral Cup:

• Bleu Berry (2018) – sixth hurdles run, 17th in 2m handicap hurdle
• Heaven Help Us (2021) – seventh hurdles run, won 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle

County Hurdle:

• Absurde (2024) – fourth hurdles run, 4th in 2m G1 novice hurdle

Pertemps Final:

• Good Time Jonny (2022) – 14th hurdles run, 12th in in 2m handicap hurdle
• Mrs Milner – 10th hurdles run, Fell in 2m2f mares’ handicap hurdle
• Delta Work – 6th hurdles run, 4th in 3m handicap hurdle

Martin Pipe:

• Galopin Des Champs (2021) – fourth hurdles run, 6th in 2m G1 novice hurdle
• Killultagh Vic (2018) – third hurdles run, 3rd in G2 2m4f novice hurdle (now run as G1, 2m5f)

Handicap Hints series

• Quebecois, Bold Endeavour & Only By Night worth noting (28/01/26)
• Let It Rain for Milldam (21/01/26)
• Grand plans not necessarily for the better (14/01/26)
• Imperial Saint well-treated horse (07/01/26)
• In d’Or, Fiercely Proud & O’Connell (10/12/25)
• Regent's Stroll a long-term project (03/12/25)
• Keep tabs on Navajo Indy (26/11/25)
• Not all Bad for Pauling (19/11/25)
• Johnny be good fit for Becher (12/11/25)
• De Bromhead improver in Paddy Power 05/11/25)
• Introducing the column (22/10/25)

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