Harry Skelton: Ten horses to follow for the 2024-25 Jumps season

We are now up and running with plenty of big races and meetings to come over the next few weeks. The horses have been in great form over the summer and have done their job well by putting loads of winners on the board. Dan went very close in the Trainers’ Championship last season, and I’ve made a decent start this year, so both Championships are of course on our minds. Every year you hope it’s possible, and with the crop of horses we’ve got at home now we’d like to think we’ve got every chance. One thing is for sure, we will give it absolutely everything.

It’s testament to the team around us who’ve been working so hard to get the horses into such good form. We’re looking forward to doing the best we can and getting as many winners on the board as possible.

He’s already had one run over fences this season and looked a bit green in the jumping department but if he can get it together, he can have a productive campaign. He’s got a very good pedigree and looks well handicapped, so he could prove much better than his mark.

He ran some very good races last year, finishing off at Sandown when staying on well to finish second. For a horse with not a lot of experience under his belt, he improved a lot last year, and this season he can improve even more with some cut in the ground. We might try and step him up to two-and-a-half miles depending on how he fares in the Greatwood Hurdle, which is the plan to start with.

He won at the Scottish National meeting at Ayr in April and showed some real improvement there, so we’re interested to see how he gets on in staying hurdles this season. He’s more of a dark horse but I think he’ll be a big improver this year. 

You can put a line through his Aintree run when things just didn’t go to plan, but he had a good season apart from that. He won well at Sandown and we’re looking at the Haldon Gold Cup to start him off this season over two miles which we think is his trip. He shows plenty of speed so we will see where that race takes us.

He’s an obvious one having raced so well last year and winning the Turners at Cheltenham. He seems in good form at home and we’re looking to start him off in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby depending on the ground. He’s a big, scopey horse and we’re hoping he can take the step up into open company in his stride and carry on improving.

She’s a dual bumper winner from last year, notably when winning a Listed race at Ascot very well in what looked a strong field. She’s another we’ll be taking novice hurdling this year, starting at two miles, and the dream would be to get her into the Mares’ Novice at the Festival.  

We’re excited to go over fences with him, we think it’ll really suit him this year. He’s got a high cruising speed and going chasing will utilise more of his attributes. He ran two fantastic races when second in both the Betfair and County Hurdles, and we hope fences will bring out some more improvement. He’s been jumping really well at home and as long as the ground is okay, he could start at Cheltenham on Friday.  

She’s a new filly that’s come to us off the Flat and has shown us some nice things at home. She’s a big, scopey juvenile filly and will improve throughout the year. She’s been pleasing us a lot and further down the line in the spring there’s a good race for her, so she’s definitely one for the notebook.

He had a great year when ending on a high note winning the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and, hopefully, we can go back there and defend our title. He’s been such a fantastic horse for us winning multiple Grade 1s and he’s been an absolute pleasure to work with. You’ll see plenty of him this season as he seemed to really thrive last year. We’re training him a little differently at home this campaign, so we’re excited to see how productive he can be.

He won a bumper quite impressively at Market Rasen at the backend of last season for Darren Yates and he has a good pedigree. We’ll be putting him in some novice hurdles this year, so he’s one to keep an eye on as the season goes on.