The 2025 Cheltenham Festival: the leading nothern lights

Disgruntled author JB Priestley has a lot to answer for. His 1930s work English Journey is deemed responsible for coining the "grim up north" stereotype which has annoyingly stuck like discarded "spoggy" - Grimsby parlance for chewing gum - to brand new sneakers. 

Had Preistey made it north of Newcastle, up along the bewitching Northumberland coast to Edinburgh, to St Andrews and the Home of Golf, and on up through the Highlands, chances are he’d have changed his mind. And with it the course of cultural history. Needless to say, his loss remains very much our gain.

Yet it’s hard to argue otherwise that it’s been anything but grim for those based up north when it comes to returns from recent Cheltenham Festivals.

After wins for Corach Rambler (Ultima), The Real Whacker (Brown Advisory) and Iroko (Martin Pipe) in 2023 provided the north with its best Festival haul in more than decade, we dared to dream the tide might just be turning. 

Despite an almighty effort from Corach Rambler to run on into third in last year’s Gold Cup, only a rousing victory for Sine Nomine in the hunters’ chase prevented another depressing blank over the four days. Thank heavens for small mercies in the shape of Fiona Needham’s pint-sized mare.

So, what hope this time around of the much-maligned north making a greater impact on the Prestbury Park winners’ podium?

Scottish Sun columnist, Racing TV analyst and proud northerner ED WATSON gets the lowdown on the best chances from the raiding party heading south.

It’s the Festival race in which northern horses have shone brightest. Since Dun Doire last landed this prize for Ireland in 2006, Joes Edge (2007), Chief Dan George (2010), Vintage Clouds (2021) and Corach Rambler (2022 and 2023) have all struck welcome blows for the north.

Corach Rambler’s back-to-back victories enhanced an exceptional Ultima record for Lucinda Russell. As well as those two wins, the Perthshire trainer has never had a horse finish outside the extended each-way places from six runners in the race. Little wonder Whistle Stop Tour, a progressive novice with valuable Cheltenham chasing experience in the bag, has proved a market springer from 50-1 to 8-1.

Russell said: "We knew the trip was half-a-mile too short when we ran Whistle Stop Tour at Cheltenham on Trials Day, but he’s quite a light-framed horse who we didn’t want to have a hard race for his prep.

"That’s why we ran him over 2m4f. He proved that day he’s fine jumping at pace around there and he’ll definitely appreciate going back over further. It’s often a good race for novices and he has a progressive profile.”

Nicky Richards believes a lighter campaign gives Famous Bridge every chance of improving on last year’s fourth to Chianti Classico. The Hemmings Racing-owned chaser has had only three starts this season and heads south on the back of a career-best effort when landing Haydock’s Trial in first-time cheekpieces.

Richards said: “The headgear just sharpened him up a bit at Haydock, where he jumped and travelled better. I also think he preferred getting on some better ground there.

"He had a few gruellers before Cheltenham last season, but we’ve managed to spread out his races better this time around. He’s improved a little bit, is in grand fettle just now and he looks great.”

Flick through the market for this race and you’ll find Nells Son out with the washing. Not that Richards expects him to finish there. “He’s run three very good races this season,” says the master of Greystoke. “And I expect him to run another.”

Nells Son produced a clear-best Timeform figure when landing a valuable new handicap at Kelso before Christmas; and wasn’t far off that when third to Petit Tonnerre at Doncaster last time.

However, it’s his seasonal reappearance win at Carlisle in November which makes for particularly intriguing reading here, as he beat the winner of this race 12 months ago, Unexpected Party, off level weights.

Admittedly, Richards’ charge has an enviable record fresh and is 4lb worse off now, while Dan Skelton will have geared Unexpected Party’s campaign around peaking perfectly. But if the latter is 8-1 second favourite, surely Nells Son doesn’t deserve to be dismissed as a general 40-1 rag?

RIchards added: “Nells Son has handled the track fine both times we’ve run him at Cheltenham before. They were over hurdles, but one of those was the Coral Cup on the Old Course, when he finished eighth to Langer Dan. He was bang there turning in but just didn’t see out the 2m5f up the hill. A strongly-run 2m is what he wants.”

A progressive young chaser in the J P McManus colours? Tick. One seemingly with more mileage in his handicap mark? Tick. It’s not difficult to see why Jagwar is ante-post favourite for both races he’s still engaged in next week. 

Not that Josh Guerriero, his joint-trainer alongside Cheshire chum Oliver Greenall, feels he should be as short as 4-1 for the reinstated 2m4f novices’ handicap chase, his preferred target at this stage, or 6-1 for the TrustATrader Plate. 

Guerriero said: “We’ve always thought a lot of Jagwar. Now that he’s polished up his jumping, he’s starting to show it. He was still a bit weak last year and was a bit like a gangly teenager with legs everywhere to start with. But he’s grown up now and is improving.”

The six-year-old, a half-brother to French Grade Three-winning chaser D’Jango, made it three victories from four starts over fences when running out a smooth winner of a novices’ handicap on the New course, and over the same distance as both Festival races, on Trials Day. He’s been raised 7lb to a new mark of 139 for that.

Guerriero added: “He’s shown he likes the track and can handle the undulations of Cheltenham, which is a big thing. Not every horse does, so it gives us more confidence going back there now. He’ll love the drying ground, too. Whether he should be as short a price as he is, though, I’m not so sure. They’re very competitive races.”

A season which started with hopes for last season’s champion hunter graduating to top staying handicaps hasn’t yet got off the ground. Quite literally. After unseating John Dawson on her comeback at Market Rasen in November, Sine Nomine then had 5lb claimer James Turner on the deck when falling two out in Wetherby’s Rowland Meyrick Chase on Boxing Day. 

It’s far from the ideal preparation for a return to the most unforgiving arena in jump racing. But North Yorkshire-based permit trainer Fiona Needham is convinced connections of the bonny little grey mare are due a turn for the better.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare season,” says Needham, who also doubles as Catterick’s clerk of the course. “Those are the first non-completions Sine Nomine has had since she was pulled up in her first point-to-point. 

“We were going to go to Doncaster in January but the ground was too quick. She also had a small setback which caused us to miss Haydock. So it’s not been easy. 

“It’s just unfortunate what’s happened as she’s normally a safe jumper. It was too far out at Market Rasen to tell we’re she might have finished, but she was staying on again at Wetherby and would’ve been placed.”

Dawson, one of the northern circuit’s leading amateurs, is in line to resume last year’s Festival-winning partnership, although that isn’t without its stresses for Needham. 

She added: “John had a fall point-to-pointing at the weekend and needs to pass a concussion test. That’s not until Tuesday, plus the ground looks like it will be quicker than last year too. So we’re just keeping our fingers crossed everything turns out OK!”

Comparisons with Brindisi Breeze are a given for Derryhassen Paddy, who will attempt to bridge a 13-year gap in the race which gave Russell her breakthrough Festival success.

Like the cruelly ill-fated Brindisi Breeze and his doughty jockey Campbell Gillies - neither of whom got the opportunity to fulfil their undoubted potential - Derryhassen Paddy heads south with an unblemished record over hurdles. He’s also unbeaten in a point-to-point and a bumper. But that is where Russell draws the line.

She said: “Brindisi was a smaller, lighter horse, whereas Paddy is going to be a chaser further down the line. I really like him. He’s got plenty of class.”

Derryhassen Paddy was a non-runner in Haydock’s Grade Two Prestige Novices’ Hurdle last month, the race Brindisi Breeze won en route to downing Irish banker Boston Bob at the 2012 Festival.

It means he heads to Cheltenham light on experience, with only two starts over hurdles so far, and untested in a Graded race of any sort. However, Russell’s faith in the strapping six-year-old is unwavering. 

She added: “Ideally we’d like to have got another run into him, but I’m not overly worried we haven’t. We took him to Windsor, where he came out on top of a good battle, and I’m glad he has that experience under his belt. He was well schooled when we bought him and we’ve done loads of jumping with him at home. He’s a smart cookie.”