John Ingles looks at what the Timeform ratings say about the British challenge at Cheltenham this week.
British fortunes reached a low at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival with a total of just five winners trained on these shores, and while things haven’t been quite that bad for the home team since, totals of ten, ten, nine and eight over the last four seasons don’t exactly paint the picture of a sustained recovery.
So do the Timeform ratings point to a better collective performance by British-trained runners at Cheltenham this week?
In the feature event on day one, the Champion Hurdle, the absence of the 2023 winner Constitution Hill and his stablemate Sir Gino leaves Nicky Henderson without a leading contender and an undoubtedly weaker British challenge as a result. Last year’s fortunate winner Golden Ace bids to retain her crown but the main British hope this year is another of last year’s Festival winners, The New Lion, winner of the 2025 Turners Novices’ Hurdle for Dan Skelton.
However, The New Lion comes out only third best in the ratings, taking into account the 7 lb he has to concede to the Irish mares Lossiemouth and Brighterdayshead. On the other hand, The New Lion is still unexposed, is unbeaten in his five completed starts over hurdles, and has the potential to improve past those two rivals.
