Now upon us, the 2025 Cheltenham Festival promises to deliver its usual thrills, spills, shocks, and stellar performances. With the final fields beginning to take shape, connections on both sides of the Irish Sea have made their final preparations ahead of the meeting around which the whole season revolves.
Whilst all leading trainers will head into the meeting with optimism, the Irish contingent has more reason to head to Prestbury Park with confidence rather than hope. Of the 28 races on offer, 16 feature an Irish-trained runner at the head of the market. However, that still leaves 12 that don’t, handing the home team encouragement that they may at least better the 2024 tally of nine British-trained winners.
Champion Hurdle and Queen Mother Champion Chase favourites Constitution Hill and Jonbon are the most obvious contenders to get the hosts on the scoreboard. However, there are other strong challengers in the juvenile and novice events. East India Dock and Lulamba, from the yards of James Owen and Nicky Henderson, dominate the Triumph Hurdle market, but, for many, one of Britain’s best chances of a winner comes in the opening event on Day 2.
Unbeaten Skelton Star Ready to Roar
The 2m5f Turners Novices’ Hurdle (officially registered as the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle) has been claimed by racing luminaries such as Istabraq, Hardy Eustace, Faugheen, and Envoi Allen over the years. One thing that the quartet has in common is that they were all trained in Ireland. However, in 2025, a British star has surged to the head of the market on the back of a series of near-flawless displays.
Having only made his debut at the back end of the 2023/24 campaign, when posting a low-key bumper success at Market Rasen, The New Lion was flying a little under the radar moving into 2024/25. Three starts later, he was the name on everyone’s lips.
Breaking his hurdles duck at the first time of asking in a Chepstow Maiden, he followed up in a Class 3 event at Newbury before facing a sharp rise in class in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle back at the Berkshire track in December.
A field of highly regarded sorts lay in wait that day, including the £660,000 horse, Regents Stroll, from the yard of Paul Nicholls. The race represented a tall task on paper, but The New Lion was simply in a different league and won as he liked.
JP McManus was clearly impressed that day, with the powerful owner snapping up the son of Kayf Tara following that breakthrough top-level success. As such, the impressive youngster will sport the famous green and gold silks for the first time in his Cheltenham Festival assignment.
High Quality Field to Conquer
It is impossible not to have been impressed by the efforts of The New Lion to date, with the manner in which he travels, jumps, and quickens suggesting that he may be out of the very top drawer. However, as with all up-and-coming stars, he needs to prove it where it matters most, i.e. on the grand stage of the Cheltenham Festival.
If The New Lion is to prevail, he must overcome a host of rivals who also boast a string of 1’s next to their names, including James’s Gate, Sixmilebridge, The Yellow Clay, and the extremely dangerous Final Demand from the yard of Willie Mullins.
And a Curse to Overcome
Whether seventeen years is enough to constitute a curse is open to debate, but that is the label placed upon the Challow Hurdle at Newbury. Despite boasting the names of Gold Cup and Grand National winners on the roll of honour, no Challow winner has followed up at the Cheltenham Festival in the same season since Wichita Lineman in 2006/07.
If the opposition doesn’t strike fear into the heart of Dan Skelton, a look back at the Cheltenham Festival performances of the last 10 Challow winners may at least cause a slight cause for consternation:
- 2014/15 Parlour Games – 2nd in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2015/16 Barters Hill – 4th in Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
- 2016/17 Messire Des Obeaux – 3rd in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2017/18 Poetic Rhythm – 10th in Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
- 2018/19 Champ – 2nd in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2019/20 Thyme Hill – 4th in Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
- 2020/21 Bravemansgame – 3rd in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2021/22 Stage Star – Pulled Up in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2022/23 Hermes Allen – 6th in Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
- 2023/24 Captain Teague – 10th in Albert Bartlett Novices’Hurdle
The New Lion has looked every inch a superstar to date, but he may need to be to overcome the talented Irish raiders and the dreaded curse of the Challow Hurdle.
