Jamie Snowden 2026 Cheltenham Festival stable tour

The footsteps trainer Jamie Snowden created when walking back into the Cheltenham Festival winner’s enclosure for the first time might be long gone, but he hopes to leave an indelible mark at this year’s meeting.

It is 12 years since the Lambourn handler proudly strode back into National Hunt racing’s most treasured number one spot alongside Present View, who survived a stewards’ inquiry before being announced the winner of the Rewards4Racing Novices’ Handicap Chase. 

While Snowden has achieved plenty in the time that has elapsed since that victory it is a triumph he is reminded off on a daily basis with the glass bowl he received for that win taking centre stage on a kitchen window sill adorned with other trophies and memorabilia. 

He said: “It was an incredible day and the memory lives on. They had a heart monitor on me at the time as Great British Racing were doing a piece as to whose heart would beat the fastest the owner, trainer, jockey, bookmaker or punter. 

“My maximum heart rate should have been one hundred and eighy four, but it was one hundred and ninety six! So it shows what it means.

“Sir Chips Keswick, who owned him, was over in Germany at the time because Arsenal were playing Bayern Munich as he was chairman of Arsenal at the time and he stopped the bus with the players on to watch the race. 

“He came down on the Saturday after Cheltenham and I gave him the trophy, but he put it on the window sill in our kitchen and it is still there to this day. 

“He left it there as he said between now and your next Cheltenham Festival winner you will have plenty of bad days, so remember good days like this.”

It wouldn’t be until nine years later that Snowden would add a second Festival triumph to his name courtesy of the now retired You Wear It Well, also owned by Keswick, who toughed it out from the front in the Grade Two Jack de Bromhead Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. 

However, with a number of leading fancies amongst his intended team for this year’s renewal of the four day meeting which begins on March 10th the former military man hopes his wait for Festival win number three will arrive sooner rather than later. 

He added: “It was nine years between Present View and You Wear It Well winning there which shows how hard it is to win at the Festival. 

“It was a great ride from Gavin (Sheehan) as she was all heart and guts from the front. It was great Sir Chips was there that time

“We are well aware of the enormity of the task, but hopefully this year we have got a nice team to have a crack at it and it is very exciting

“It took nine years to get the second one and hopefully we aren’t waiting that long for the next one.”

Below, Snowden shares the inside track on his contenders for the Cheltenham Festival.

Race: Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

“It would have to be very soft to go to Cheltenham with her. She could go to Fairyhouse for a Grade One instead and that is the thinking at the moment. 

“That is right handed over two and a half miles and I think that is what she wants. She was arguably a bit unlucky in the Listed race at Haydock Park as she only got beat a length or so and she got interfered with up the run in. 

“The Jane Seymour was supposed to be at Sandown Park, which would have been perfect for her with the stiff finish, but it was run at Warwick, which is a much sharper track. 

“She was the only one to finish up close to come from the back as it was hard to make up ground that day. 

“I still think there is unfinished business and I would like her to go to Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday and have a crack at a Grade One over there.”

Race: Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase.

“He is a ten year old now and he ran a belter to be beaten just over three lengths in the Grand National Trial at Haydock Park last weekend. 

“He was just tapped for toe the whole way, but he done his best work late on and stayed on like a trooper. He didn’t have the clearest passages over the last four fences so with a clearer run he could have been even closer. 

“He is in the Kim Muir, which he was second in a couple of years ago, but that was on very soft ground. He does want soft ground and if it wasn’t he wouldn’t run. 

“The track holds no fears to him and he is better handicapped than when he was second in it.”

Race: Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase or Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle.

“We might have to think about supplementing her for the Mares’ Hurdle, if it rains. She ran well in the Colin Parker to be third over them on her debut over fences, and if she had jumped the last well she probably would have won. 

“She came out and won at Exeter impressively beating Bluey quite handsomely. She then went to Windsor and her lack of experience probably told on a tight track and she didn’t jump great. She ran very well to finish fifth given the mistakes she made. 

“We were schooling her plenty over fences at home and we were all set to go to Exeter for a Listed mares’ novices’ chase, but with the bad weather around I decided to put an entry in for the Listed hurdle at Warwick..

“We switched targets at the last minute when we knew Exeter was going to be off and she looked very good winning that. It was a great ride from Gavin (Sheehan) and her jumping was excellent.

“It has given us a bit of a quandary because we weren't entered in the Mares’ Hurdle as she was only rated one hundred and twenty nine over hurdles and we were campaigning her over fences. 

“On the back of her last run the handicapper has given her an eleven pound rise, but she is still pretty unexposed over hurdles. 

“She has an entry in the Mares’ Chase, but I think if it came up soft and Lossiemouth was looking towards the Champion Hurdle we would have to think about the supplementary entry.

“We can wait until the last minute, and if it was forecast soft ground, and the rain came that week then the Mares’ Hurdle would have to be a consideration.”

Race: Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle or Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

“He qualified for the Pertemps when he won at Kempton Park back in the autumn, but he likes better ground. He is in both the Pertemps Final and the Martin Pipe, but there is also a nice race at Kempton Park that Saturday as well. 

“It depends on the ground at Cheltenham if he is it to run there. He is fine on good to soft, but he wouldn’t want it too soft. 

“We have never run him over three miles so he would be unexposed over that trip which is interesting. He is good over two and half miles, and if we do that I would like Izzi (Ryder) to ride him, but we will see what the weather does.”

Race: Turners Novices’ Hurdle or Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle.

“He had one run for Nicky Henderson last season and then he came to us and had a bit of a problem with a foot so he missed the autumn. He has only had the two runs over hurdles so he has not had the experience really. 

“I thought his win at Exeter was really good, which was only his second ever start, when he beat Pourquoi Pas Papa, and he since won at Wincanton and run well in the Victor Ludurom the other day. 

“I thought he was very good at Carlisle on Monday. He is a horse with plenty of stamina so to win over two miles and one furlong at Carlisle, against a couple of nice horses.

“He is a young, raw, improving kind of horse. He is a brother to Appreciate It, who won the Supreme. Stamina is his forte really. We have run twice, and won twice over trips close to two miles, but he wants to go up in trip. 

“I think those races will sharpen him up to go up in trip, but whether he is ready to go to Cheltenham we will just have to cross that bridge when we get there, but he is a smart enough individual. 

“It is still something that could happen. We will just have to decide whether he is ready for it, and if is then we will decide which race to take in.

“With a case of him it is just case of feeling our way and seeing if it is the right thing or not to do. He is very unexposed, and with that comes the inexperience, but the potential for huge improvement.

"The improvement he showed from his first run to second run was vast, as was the improvement from his second to third run.”

Race: Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

“She is an absolute star. She was very good in the Grade Two bumper at Aintree on her first run for us when she was second. She has always been a good jumper so we were looking forward to this season. 

“She was good the first day then she won the Listed race at Newbury very easily. It is quite hard to place a two mile mare novice hurdler after Christmas as they encourage you to go up in trip for races like the Jane Seymour. 

“We stepped her out of novice company into an open Grade Two at Ascot, which was a big ask considering we also had a two pound penalty for that success at Newbury. 

“She went down narrowly, but I think that was a cracking run and the handicapper thought so as he put her up five pounds for it. 

“We learnt a lot about her that day as she has got loads of speed. We probably just engaged into a battle with a battle hardened warrior early enough. 

“Hopefully, that will serve her in good stead as she has been in a battle now. That will help her mentally as she has only had five races in total. 

“It is always a shame to be beaten with a nice mare, but it should stand her in good stead going forward. I think she is a very talented horse with bags of speed. 

“She has a similar profile to You Wear It Well, but she had more of an emphasis on stamina whereas La Conquiere has more of an emphasis on speed. 

“As the penalty structures have changed she goes there without a penalty which is good as well and I think our mare is the best British two mile mare novice hurdling.”

Race: Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

“She ran in the Sidney Banks at Huntingdon on soft ground, but that just pulled her apart. She is better on better ground.

“It was the first time we run her softer ground, but she is quite a fine filly and didn’t cope with that. 

“We will freshen her up and probably go to Cheltenham in April.”

Race: Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase.

“Through no fault of his own he has finished second on three occasions this season. He just got touched off at Cheltenham and at Windsor. He is an improving young horse as he keeps nudging him up every time. He would be on the cusp of getting in the Grand Annual. 

“He is entered at Chepstow this weekend and if he were to win there it gives us the possibility of the Grand Annual, but alternatively we could be patient and wait for the Red Rum at Aintree. 

“He is quite a hardy, robust individual that takes plenty of racing. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that he runs at the weekend and in the Grand Annual. 

“He would love the hustle and bustle of the Grand Annual as he is a tough chap.”

Race: McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

“He is a really nice horse, but he is a National Hunt bred horse running in juvenile hurdles. He only had two runs on the Flat in France. He does want slightly softer ground and he is bred to improve with time.

"I thought his first run over hurdles when he was third at Kempton Park was perfectly decent, then he improved when he was second at Chepstow. 

“He has a mark of one hundred and twelve, which will now go up after his win at Market Rasen, and he needs to go up in the weights to get in, but it would be silly not to have the entry in case. 

“We have then got that as an option, but then the four-year-old handicaps at Newbury and Ascot will also come into consideration. I’m sure he will be twice the horse next season.”

Race: Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase or Ultima Handicap Chase.

“He is a horse that we have always loved. He won a couple of bumpers and novice hurdles, and arguably he was quite unlucky when he was fifth in the Albert Bartlett last year as he got stopped in running at two out. 

“He has gone chasing this season and done well. He won the Grade Two at Newbury then he went to the Kauto Star at Kempton Park where he just found the ground a bit quick. He is better left handed and the track was just a bit sharp there, but he was only beaten three lengths despite all that. 

“He came up and bolted up, as he should have done at Ayr the other day. He has had a lovely prep into this as he has not had a hard race at Ayr. 

“The only real options we had were to head to the Dublin Racing Festival or go to Ayr as the other options were right handed. We figured we didn’t want to have a hard race at Leopardstown so Ayr was the only choice left.

“In a race like that you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. He jumped superbly at Ayr and went around with his head in his chest and won by twenty two lengths. 

“The horse that beat up there has since run well so it was a lovely prep race.

“Three miles around Cheltenham we know suits him well. Hopefully there is a bit of soft ground there as he is in top form. He has got that experience of the Festival as well which will help him out as well

“He looks the leading British hope as he has probably got the strongest form going into it. We are taking on the Irish horses, but they have had tough races through the season and we go there with a fresh horse that couldn’t be in better shape.

“We didn’t over run him in bumpers and over hurdles as we knew he was going to be a better chaser and thankfully he is looking that way. 

“The Brown Advisory is the number one race, but you have to have the options. Having that fourth run over fences at Ayr gave us the option of running in a handicap.”

Race: Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

“We will certainly enter him in the Champion Bumper and it was a good performance he put up under a penalty at Huntingdon. 

“He came over to us from Ireland as he was in that system we have over there with a few youngsters. 

“I wasn’t going to run him on the all-weather at Lingfield as I was going to run him at Huntingdon before Christmas, but we had Mipat and him ready at the same time. 

“Milpat wasn’t eligible at the time to run in the Lingfield Park race so Wilde’s Legacy went there, but there was no other reason why, and he bolted up. 

“I think he clocked 42mph up the Lingfield straight, and you don’t get many flat horses do that. I think he is a very talented horse. 

“He has done plenty and I think he could handle the Champion Bumper as he has a good constitution. He has got a good mind on him and he has bags of speed as he has quite a quick pedigree, but he stays so he is exciting. 

“If it was heavy, we might switch and go to Aintree instead. He is a nice horse and we are lucky to have him. I think the ground will be the deciding factor if we go. 

“We will have him ready for Cheltenham and he is fine on soft ground, as we saw at Huntingdon, but I just don’t think he wants deep ground.”