Handicap Hints: Horses to follow including Hoe Joly Smoke, Neo King and Wellington Arch

Kempton prize in Skelton sights

The loudest chatter might be all about those four days in March but there are still some decent domestic prizes up for grabs between now and then, and it’s arguably not a bad time to get ahead of the curve while a lot of the bookies' trading teams are busy weighing up how many horses they can get away with laying at single-figure prices for the Ultima (six, the last time I counted).

A week on Saturday Kempton plays host to the Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase and, in terms of timing, it looks like the logical spot to give Randox Grand National favourite Iroko his final spin before returning to Aintree - coming, as it does, four days after the weights are published for the April 11 showpiece (no penalties, remember).

It would also leave a decent amount of recovery time, although I'd also expect to see his name among the entries for Cheltenham (one of those currently at 8/1 in places for the Ultima) when the Festival handicap races close next week.

Second to subsequent King George winner The Jukebox Man first time out at Haydock and a cosy winner over recent Irish Gold Cup fourth Firefox in the Howden Graduation Chase at Ascot when last seen in December, Iroko's official rating has been creeping up all the while and the latest collateral rise sees him nudged up another 2lb to 157.

It’s worth stressing he’s never won a handicap over fences – his Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle success at the 2023 Festival coming off just 138 – but he’s no doubt a class act, not least judged on his National effort from last year, while Ascot earlier this term proved something new in that he can definitely do it going right-handed, as well as anti-clockwise.

Sam Thomas has saddled the winner of this race twice in the past three seasons and his 2025 victor Katate Dori could be back for another shot off an 11lb higher mark (136), while the trainer has also left in Just Over Land, who was 10lb out of the handicap when fourth to Matata over two and a half miles at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and would effectively be running from a 7lb lower perch (123) if making the cut/lining up at Kempton (he’s 27 on the list and the field size limit is 20).

Hyland finished second when still technically a novice here 12 months ago and would be fully 15lb better off with Katate Dori on revised terms. He gave the impression he was back on a fair mark when fourth to Deep Cave in Ascot’s Howden Silver Cup Handicap Chase last time, while Nicky Henderson stablemate Califet En Vol (136) has also been entered but he’s got questions to answer in regard to the three-mile trip and has looked more of a Jack Richards Cheltenham project all season.

Rising Dust’s form figures since joining Emmet Mullins from Michael Hourigan read 2116111 (three most recent wins over fences) and if his Trophy entry is largely down to getting a gauge of what the BHA assessors make of it all, then the answer is not very much as he’s been allotted 125 and is another outside the top-20 currently. He’ll presumably need to run again somewhere for Cheltenham to become a realistic notion.

A valuable pot like this (£85,425 to the winner) won’t have been missed when Dan Skelton clapped eyes on the programme book and he’s put in Boombawn along with what is surely the stable select in Hoe Joly Smoke. He ran good races in defeat at the first three Cheltenham meetings of the current campaign and might just relish this sort of test on his first visit to Kempton, having claimed his last victory on good ground over three miles at Sandown last spring.

Skelton’s yet to win it (form of his runners: P42646) but the standout 12/1 (William Hill) about Hoe Joly Smoke shouldn’t last long.

King creeping towards Eider bid?

Less than an hour earlier on the same afternoon, the Eider Handicap Chase is due to take place (weather permitting) at Newcastle and course officials will be happy enough with an initial entry of 35, topped by another horse still in contention for Aintree, Mr Vango.

He completely flopped and was pulled-up before the third-last in last month’s Masters Handicap Chase, but he’d been a big drifter in the market and I refuse to believe he gave anything like his true running.

Trainer Sara Bradstock has always stressed that they’d look to go where the ground is most testing, and on that basis the extended four miles at Newcastle makes plenty of sense, but he’s been put in at 16/1 by some firms and that looks a reflection of his likely participation – or unlikely as the case may be.

Way down the list, keep an eye on the Evan Williams-trained Neo King. I can’t imagine he’ll be declared to run from miles out of the handicap at Haydock this weekend but he’d have his chance here if the top couple come out.

Granted, he got a peach of a ride from Ben Jones to win at Windsor’s Berkshire Winter Million meeting (replay below) but I didn’t think a 5lb rise for that was in any way excessive and the form looks like being tested over the next week with second Holokea, third Havaila and fourth Express Surprise all holding potential engagements.

Lightly-raced eight-year-old Neo King looks made for these marathon races on bad ground, especially if switching off in the early parts as he was able to do last time out.

Byrnes could have last laugh in Scotland

No weights until next Wednesday but entries were made this week for the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle on February 28 and it’s one of those pre-Cheltenham bonus races which means there’s £100,000 up for grabs should the Kelso winner subsequently follow up at this year’s Festival.

Plucking out one or two likely bonus-hunters is almost impossible at this stage but you’d imagine we’ll be seeing the Henderson-trained Khrisma in something along these lines before a crack at a Festival handicap, while Charles Byrnes’ DRF eyecatcher I Started A Joke and Gavin Cromwell-trained mare Sixandahalf are among the four Irish-based entries at this point.

Top of the shop is last weekend’s runaway William Hurdle winner Tutti Quanti, who is going to find life tough in this sphere now having shot up 13lb to 151 on the back of his 15-length defeat of Wellington Arch.

They’ve seemingly based their reassessment around the runner-up and Jonjo & AJ O’Neill’s horse is surely the one to take from the Newbury race with Cheltenham and Aintree firmly in mind, having landed a Premier handicap on Merseyside at last year’s National meeting.

Published at 15:30 GMT on 11/02/26

Handicap Hints series

• Who qualified for Festival handicaps at the DRF? (04/02/26)
• 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)

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.