Sunday Daily View | Sunday preview and tips

By Nic Doggett

Horse Racing

Sun November 30, 2025 · 3w ago

Nic Doggett provides an overview of the key things to note on Sunday.

All eyes on stellar Fairyhouse card

Bar 1 know how to do sponsorship, their blanket approach to Sunday’s card at Fairyhouse – at the start of every race, too – surely the best way given the quality of horses on show and the likelihood of many a mention throughout the course of the season.

The feature Grade 1s – the Drinmore Novice Chase (2.05) and the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle (2.36) – take centre stage, and have been covered in fine detail elsewhere on the site, but there is an excellent undercard, too.

The Grade 3 Juvenile Hurdle (12.35) has some fine sorts on its rollcall, won ten years apart by Our Conor (2012) and Lossiemouth (2022) with plenty of quality in-between, and has exciting French recruits Narciso Has and Mange Tout at the top of both Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and the betting, for all it’s worth keeping a close eye on ‘Horse In Focus’ In My Teens, the only runner in the field with a ‘large P’ attached to their rating.

Similarly, the Grade 2 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle (1.35) has a long and illustrious history, with turn-of-the-century winners Hardy Eustace (2002) and Newmill (2003) emulated by Hurricane Fly (2008), Jezki (2012) and Nichols Canyon (2014) prior to more recent wins for Envoi Allen (2019) and Marine Nationale (2022).

Like the earlier juvenile contest, this year’s renewal sees Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott runners Love Me Tender and Koktail Brut dominating both ratings and betting, though again there’s a ‘large P’ horse lurking in the form of the aptly-named Scope To Improve who put a disappointing run in the Aintree bumper behind him when readily winning on his hurdling bow at Clonmel earlier this month.

Sit back and enjoy!

Read: David Johnson on the Japan Cup

Capture the flag at Carlisle

Flags are an evolution of Timeform’s long-standing practices. Collectively they represent a unique set of modern and useful innovations to give you even more of an edge.

This page provides a good guide to all of the various Timeform Flags, most of which are on show in the Download The PricedUp App Handicap Chase (1.45) at Carlisle on Sunday.

The ‘Hot Trainer’ tag applies to Pierrot Jaguen (Olly Murphy), From The Ashes (Charles Byrnes) and the Nicky Richards pair Marown and Anglers Crag, with the last-named having his first start for the yard (‘New Trainer’ and ‘Trainer Uplift’ flags) since leaving Brian Ellison.

In two of its three runnings, this handicap has been won by a stout stayer, with 2020 winner Rath An Iuir winning twice since over three and a quarter miles on heavy ground and last year's winner O’Connell landing his next two starts, over three and a half miles at Market Rasen and then three miles on heavy ground at Sandown. As the winner of the four-mile Eider in 2024, Anglers Crag certainly fits that description.

Meanwhile, Fenland Tiger is likely to strip fitter for his return at the track earlier this month and he retains the ‘Horses For Courses’ flag, in part thanks to two wins at the track.

Finally, Great Notions has the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag having caught the eye of the Timeform race reporters when second to The Big Breac in a conditional riders’ handicap at Wetherby on his seasonal reappearance. Trained by Fiona Needham, he races in the same silks – those of her father Robin Tate – as her late stable star Sine Nomine who perfectly demonstrated that the jump from point-to-points to staying handicap chases is one that can be vaulted.

Read: Ben Linfoot's Fighting Fifth Hurdle analysis

Trainers to watch at Leicester

Off the top of my head I can’t think of too many obvious similarities between trainers Nicky Henderson and Harriet Dickin, bar the fact that both have identical 50% strike-rates at Leicester over the last five seasons which would surely be a winning answer on the TV programme Pointless.

Coincidentally, all but one of the nine trainers represented in the Leicester Racecourse Handicap Hurdle (2.25) have a strike-rate of 20% or more at the East Midlands venue, but it is Henderson (4/8) and Dickin (3/6) who top the pile.

Both trainers are in contrasting form at present, with Akimos the sole runner on the day for a Seven Barrows yard that has really turned a corner over the last month as it traditionally has over the years. The five-year-old grey pulled six lengths clear of the third when only finding Glynn Brae a neck too good at Sandown on his reappearance and he clearly has the ability to defy a 4 lb higher mark.

Meanwhile, Dickin’s yard has struggled of late but it’s worth noting that her last winner came on her most recent trip to Leicester, her two runners that day finishing first and second in their respective races.

The former Olly Murphy-trained Italian Spirit shaped well on his stable debut at Uttoxeter when last seen in May – his first start in 783 days - and he’s very much one to monitor closely in the betting from this reduced BHA mark of 105.

It’s also worth noting the Smart Stat – available at the bottom of Timeform racecards – that informs us that Dickin has a £15.44 profit to a £1 level stake when having only one runner on a card.

Safer gambling

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

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