Matt Brocklebank rounds up the key handicap movers and shakers from the past week or so before looking over the entries for the December Gold Cup and Welsh National.
A couple of mega-movers heading towards the periphery of championship-race territory featured among this week’s jumps handicap update from the BHA on Tuesday.
The first – due to the Greatwood Hurdle being run on a Sunday and therefore not captured in the previous week’s release – is Joe Tizzard’s Alexei, who went up 13lb for his six-length defeat of Helnwein on the Old Course.
There were a few interesting names being bandied about on Monday when it became evident something had been supplemented for Saturday’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle, and his was one of the less far-fetched ideas suggested by the comedians on X.
In the end it turned out to be Nemean Lion heading for Newcastle but with a new mark of 147 you’d imagine Alexei might not be too far off bumping heads with some of the better Graded hurdlers over two miles.
The Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle on the Long Walk card at Ascot (December 20, entries out next week) was initially top of Tizzard’s thoughts post-Cheltenham, and I suppose they’ll know where they stand if he’s able to double up off the revised rating as he’ll then be squarely in the mix somewhere in the low-to-mid 150s.
Already now packing that sort of punch is the five-year-old Kabral Du Mathan, who shot up a stone (14lb) in one fell swoop to a mark of 154 and is suddenly looking much more than a handicapper in light of his stable debut success for Dan Skelton in Haydock’s Betfair Racing Podcasts Handicap Hurdle over two miles and three furlongs.
It was a great day for the Skeltons, who also took home another Betfair Chase thanks for Grey Dawning, but Kabral Du Mathan’s eased-down victory will have been a sweet tasting one seeing as they were sent the horse from Paul Nicholls’s in the summer.
He’d finished second in last year’s Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle, and followed that with a couple more frustrating seconds for the Ditcheat team at Windsor and Ayr, but he’s on the upgrade over longer distances this time and certainly wouldn’t be the first horse to end up in a Stayers’ Hurdle having started the campaign in handicaps.
In the interest of fairness to Nicholls, he’s been making hay with the ex-Fergal O’Brien-trained Absolutely Doyen, who seems likely to remain at least one step ahead of the assessor despite going up 8lb for completing his hat-trick at Ascot on Saturday, while one non-mover who I definitely think deserves a mention is Navajo Indy.
Tom Symonds’ six-year-old just didn’t get home in the three-mile Betfair Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle (replay below) but can do some damage from his current 132 back over an intermediate trip before the season is out.
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Looking ahead, only 23 names appeared on the list of confirmations for next month’s December Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham, which was published in midweek.
Just a trio from Ireland, while three British trainers are doubly-represented, Dan Skelton has three possibles at this point and Paul Nicholls has popped in four, so that might all boil down to only nine or 10 runners on the day (Guitar Pete’s 2017 renewal was the last to see as few as 10 line up).
On the flip side, the old adage of ‘the fittest horse wins the Paddy Power, the classiest horse wins in December’ could potentially ring true as Nicholls has the 156-rated Kalif Du Berlais among his quartet, while Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero’s Jagwar – long-term favourite for the November feature before being pulled out at the eleventh hour on account of the soft ground – is likely to be rerouted here.
That pair are a best-priced 33/1 for the Ryanair Chase at the Festival in March, a handicap-to-Grade 1 journey Nicholls most recently completed with Frodon in the 2018/19 campaign.
The Paddy Power Gold Cup second and third, Vincenzo (raised 2lb to 139) and Hoe Joly Smoke (left on 131) could be back for another shot at Cheltenham glory, along with Hunter Legend and Il Ridoto (both eased 1lb), who were sixth and eighth respectively behind Panic Attack in the middle of last month.
Meanwhile, Betfair Chase third Stellar Story and big-race flop Haiti Couleurs featured among a 52-strong initial entry for the Coral Welsh Grand National on December 27.
Coral Gold Cup contenders Hyland and Inch House were also given the option of the Chepstow marathon, while the Skelton-trained Deafening Silence goes on trial in this weekend’s BetMGM Rehearsal Chase, for which the second-season chaser is the early market leader from a BHA mark of 132.
The weights for the Welsh National are confirmed a week today.
Published at 1500 GMT on 26/11/25
Handicap Hints series
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