Chester Williams: three novices with big Cheltenham credentials

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Willmount went into many a notebook when bolting up in a 2m novice hurdle at Newbury last Thursday, a race that trainer Nicky Henderson has used for some very smart recruits in the past. Another ex-pointer, he looked full of speed throughout, jumping to the front at the second and controlling the race thereafter before sprinting clear to win by 13 lengths. He jumped fluently, being brave and coming up long when he needed to, but also shortening well and hurdling quickly at times.

Willmount is by Blue Bresil like Constitution Hill and, like him, Willmount is also bred for stamina, though on evidence of this hurdling debut he looks an out-and-out two-miler. It's also impressive that he was able to win his point to point in February at four years old, given the sire's progeny tend to take more time to develop and neither Grade One 2m novice hurdle winners Constitution Hill nor Inthepocket could.

He should handle more testing ground, so the Grade One Tolworth Novice Hurdle - newly moved to Aintree on Boxing Day - looks obvious before a tilt at the Supreme Novice Hurdle. Quotes from Henderson after Newbury suggest that the Supreme is the target and, especially given the lack of other obvious contenders from Britain, he is value at 16/1.

Chianti Classico looks every inch a horse for the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival.

His trainer Kim Bailey is no stranger to this race, having had placed horses twice in the last four years, including 2021 runner-up Happygolucky who had a very similar profile.

Chianti Classico started his chasing career in a novice handicap chase at Chepstow, where he won a fairly strong seven-runner contest comfortably by 4 ½ lengths off 133. He travelled very strongly, suggesting he would cope with the early speed and hustle and bustle of the Ultima, whilst he also jumped very fluently and bravely given it was his debut, another thing that is crucial in big handicap chases.

Unlike Premier handicap hurdles, which now require novices to have had four runs beforehand to help to stop the dominance of that group in such races, Premier handicap chases still only require three chase runs and that is another factor in his favour.

As with most Premier handicap chases in the latter part of the season, novices have a very good record in the Ultima, which is unsurprising given they arrive with far more potential for improvement than their counterparts. Two of the first four home last year were novices (and second Fastorslow was all but one bar a chase win in France aged three), whilst they filled an extraordinary eight of the first ten places in 2022, including the first five.

Chianti Classico was raised 8lb for this win, to 141, which leaves him perfectly placed for this race. He obviously must have two more runs to qualify, and course experience is definitely a plus, so the listed 3m novice chase at Cheltenham this weekend, followed by the 2m4 Novice Chase at the December meeting, which would give him more experience jumping at speed, both look ideal. Given how impressive he was at Chepstow, connections may be dreaming of the Grade One Brown Advisory come March, but his run in the Albert Bartlett showed he probably isn’t a Grade One horse currently and they’d be much better off targeting the handicap.

Last year's Champion Bumper third Captain Teague kicked off his hurdling career in exemplary style with an easy success in the Grade Two Persian War at Chepstow. The finishing result doesn’t tell the whole story though, as his jumping was sloppy at times, and he was never particularly slick and quick. His jumping may well improve in time, but coming from the Paul Nicholls academy it’s impossible to think he wasn’t well schooled and it’s more likely that he is just not the most natural hurdler. He also didn’t travel particularly well throughout, and the impression he left was all down to the stamina he displayed late on.

It is often underplayed how different the New and Old courses at Cheltenham are, especially over hurdles. The Old Course which stages the Ballymore is a sharper and tighter track, with three hurdles in the last half mile, whereas the New Course is much more galloping with only two hurdles in the last six furlongs. This means speed and quick jumping are at much less of a premium in the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle than the Ballymore, making the Albert Bartlett much more suitable for Captain Teague.

Nicholls has never won the Ballymore, with superstar chasers Bravemansgame and Denman both beaten for speed, whilst the closest he’s come is Rock On Ruby, who won the Champion Hurdle a year later. Captain Teague looks much more in the style of the former horses, and therefore I would be surprised if come March - given how good Nicholls is at placing his horses - he wasn’t in the Albert Bartlett. Interestingly, after his Persian War win, Nicholls was keen to outline the Challow as his target, but did not mention a Festival race, so the Albert Bartlett is probably already on his mind. He has all the talent to win it, and looks ready made for the challenge, so at 20-1 he looks a very good price.

A less obvious horse but one to keep onside is Doc Mccoy, a winner of a 2m4f novice hurdle at Huntingdon recently. His dam’s brother is Tricky Trickster, winner of the 4m National Hunt Chase, and he easily won his only point to point start with Ian Chanin. He looked all stamina when placed in three bumpers last season and was unsurprisingly upped in trip for his hurdle debut, where he jumped very well in front, winning by 4 ¾ lengths. Again, stamina looked his forte, looking in trouble turning in before pulling clear to win convincingly late on. It was a fairly weak race for a maiden hurdle, which means Doc Mccoy’s ability could easily be undervalued by the handicapper.

Most likely a handicapper long term, Doc Mccoy is qualified for a mark if placed in the first four next time, and that is when he can make hay. It would make a lot of sense for trainer Jamie Snowdon to keep him at 2m4f next time, on a sharpish track, and once qualified for a mark, they could then consider stepping up in trip. He may well be able to win once again at 2m4f, but he should thrive once upped in trip further.