Phill Anderson, Graeme Rodway and Keith Melrose of the Racing Post have each provided three horses to watch out for ahead of the new National Hunt season.
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Salvator Mundi @ 16/1
Arkle Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Firefox @ 8/1
Champion Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Gaelic Warrior @ 4/1
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Salvator Mundi @ 16/1
There was a lot of hype surrounding Salvator Mundi before he made his debut for Willie Mullins last season and he had the form to back it up in France, having finished only a length and three-quarters behind Sir Gino on his sole start in a Listed hurdle at Auteuil in April 2023.
Salvator Mundi was so highly regarded by the Mullins team that they pitched him into the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham in March on his debut for the stable. His inexperience cost him that day and he finished sixth, but that wasn’t a bad start all things considered, especially after a setback.
Mullins didn’t bring Salvator Mundi back to the track after that run last season and it was a wise decision by the master trainer because the four-year-old retains his novice status for this campaign as a result.
Salvator Mundi returned to the track after the turn of the season to land a maiden hurdle at Tipperary by 62 lengths in May and showed again just how big of an engine he possesses with that dominant display.
He has been given the summer off and will surely be aimed at all of the top novice hurdles in Britain and Ireland this season, with either the Supreme or the Gallagher looking likely targets.
He should be backed for the Supreme because he is a raw talent who wants to get on with things and races in a hood to try to keep a lid on his natural enthusiasm. With all of that being said the two-mile option looks more likely than the 2m5f Gallagher, where he might pull his chance away at the longer trip.
Arkle Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Firefox @ 8/1
Ballyburn takes out a big chunk of this market and will be hard to beat if connections send him over fences and this way. However, that isn’t guaranteed and we know that Firefox will be going chasing.
Firefox beat Ballyburn at Fairyhouse in December and went on to be placed in all three Grade 1 two-mile novice hurdles at the Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown spring festivals.
He was evidently a high-class hurdler, but is a big, scopey chasing type and it will be a major surprise if he doesn’t make up into a far better performer over fences this season for the Gordon Elliott stable.
Elliott said after Aintree: “He'll go chasing next season and be a proper two-mile chaser. The way he jumps a hurdle, you'd say he wants a fence.”
That is further evidence that Firefox will have only one contest on his agenda come March and it will be the Arkle. If he takes to chasing as well as his trainer expects and turns up in good shape on the first day of the festival, Firefox is likely to be a lot shorter than the 8/1 currently on offer.
Champion Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 – Gaelic Warrior @ 4/1
It’s difficult to know where Mullins will send Gaelic Warrior at this stage of the season, but it’s worth chancing that he chooses the Champion Chase rather than the Ryanair alternative.
My initial thought straight after last season’s festival was that Gaelic Warrior would go for the Ryanair, but El Fabiolo’s defeat at the hands of Jonbon at Sandown in April makes me think that El Fabiolo won’t be the main Mullins contender for the Champion Chase and that there will be an opening for Gaelic Warrior.
He has loads of zip and showed that when landing the Arkle over course and distance last year. A reproduction of that form should be good enough in a division that appears to be lacking a superstar.
King George VI Chase, Kempton, 26th December - Banbridge @ 33/1
Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - El Fabiolo @ 8/1
Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Inothewayurthinkin @ 12/1
King George VI Chase, Kempton, 26th December - Banbridge @ 33/1
After Willie Mullins won the British trainers' championship in April, expect more raids on Britain from big Irish yards and not necessarily just Mullins.
The King George, a Boxing Day institution which if we're honest has sometimes lacked a bit of magic since the Kauto Star days, might be one of the main beneficiaries. Fastorslow is already down as an intended runner, while Mullins is likely to send one across in order to keep the Savills' free for Galopin Des Champs. Then there is French star Il Est Francais, whose win on this card last year still takes the breath away.
Joseph O'Brien sent Banbridge across to Kempton last season, only it was for the Silviniaco Conti Chase in January. He was impressive that day, vindicating O'Brien's decision to come over which was surely based at least in part on Kempton being one of the more reliable courses to get good ground in winter these days.
It makes sense for Banbridge to tackle Kempton's biggest prize this season. Cheltenham has not been kind to him at the last couple of festivals, throwing up ground that was too slow. He had to run over 2m at Punchestown in April and while he still beat the Champion Chaser that day, the trip was plainly too short and Banbridge's class got him through.
A sharp 3m on good ground could be exactly what allows Banbridge to show he is a champion. His connections seem alive to the possibility that Kempton could be one of the most likely places for him to shine. Let's hope they will join the dots.
Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - El Fabiolo @ 8/1
El Fabiolo's season ended on a low note in 2023/24. He was pulled up after a shuddering early error in the Champion Chase and was also beaten at odds-on in the Celebration Chase.
Jumping has always been this horse's chink in the armour and the natural way to lessen the danger is to move him up in distance. Mullins has Arkle winner Gaelic Warrior in his stable, and could have Energumene back after a spell on the sidelines, so the opportunity is there to shuffle the pack.
On his day El Fabiolo is one of the best chasers around. He went off favourite in the Champion Chase partly because Jonbon was taken out, but had also earned that status by thrashing the likes of Captain Guinness earlier in the season.
Freshened up and with less emphasis put on jumping, he could be a formidable force and Mullins no longer has to worry about avoiding the recently retired Allaho in the Ryanair.
Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Inothewayurthinkin @ 12/1
There is one big thing in the coming season's Gold Cup that remains the same. Galopin Des Champs is the horse to beat. But there is a lot that has changed behind him in the pecking order and one of the most exciting of the challengers is the Gavin Cromwell-trained Inothewayurthinkin.
This horse is only six and, in spite of his stout pedigree, had never run over further than 2m5½f before Cheltenham in March. He stepped up in distance for the Kim Muir and made a complete mockery of his handicap mark of 145, winning as close to on the bridle as you are likely to see in a long-distance handicap on deep ground.
There was more to come. For one, clear runner-up Git Maker backed up his performance by finishing third in the Scottish National next time. Inothewayurthinking himself won a Grade 1 at Aintree, powering away from a field of novices who had all proved their worth in good handicaps that season.
The Gold Cup test is bound to suit this horse, who will be just seven come March. He has loads of room to improve further and could be the one from whom Galopin Des Champs has most to fear.
Aintree, Grand National 2025 - Galvin @ 33/1
Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Ahoy Senor @ 33/1
Mares’ Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Luccia @ 14/1
Aintree, Grand National 2025 - Galvin @ 33/1
He may not have won for nearly two years but Galvin ran an absolute belter in this year’s Grand National when staying on very well in the closing stages to only be a length behind runner-up and stablemate, Delta Work.
That’s an effort worth marking up given that the ground was softer than ideal for the son of Gold Well and there is little doubt that he’ll be aimed at Liverpool’s big race once again.
If he does return to Aintree, he’s unlikely to bump into anything as well handicapped as I Am Maximus was when landing 2024’s renewal and furthermore, Galvin has been left on the same mark of 155 by the assessor.
There’s a good chance that his mark will drop down a few pounds between now and when the weights come out, given that deep winter ground isn’t really his thing, but he’s unlikely to come down far enough to jeopardise his place in the contest, making him one of the most likely runners in the current ante-post market.
With quicker ground a distinct possibility at that time of year, he could be an attractive proposition at his current price of 33/1 and while he’ll be an 11-year-old by the time next year’s renewal comes around, there’s no better man than Gordon Elliott with veteran Grand National types.
Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Ahoy Senor @ 33/1
Ahoy Senor never really gave the impression he was going to enjoy a baptism of fire like the race that was formerly known as the Hennessey last season and it wasn’t a great surprise to see him fail to complete. His whole campaign was a bit of a mess bar his customary smart end of season effort at Aintree, hitting the crossbar in the Bowl Chase for the second year running.
That was right up there with the very best efforts of his career to date and there has to be a chance that he tries a new route to Liverpool this time around.
The son of Yeats is still only a nine-year-old and arguably should be at his peak for a staying chaser.
While a return outing in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby seems likely, there has to be a chance that he gets a lighter campaign before Cheltenham this time around and he doesn’t really give the impression he’s a Kempton horse, so skipping the King George could be a smart move.
A spring campaign could be the key to getting the best out of this horse and he might kick that spring campaign off with a big run in the Ryanair.
Mares’ Hurdle, Cheltenham Festival 2025 - Luccia @ 14/1
Luccia showed that she’s capable of handling slow conditions when a close up third to State Man in 2024’s Champion Hurdle on heavy ground and she could be a fascinating prospect for next year’s Festival, particularly if she takes on her own sex.
The mare has run three crackers at Cheltenham previously without managing to get her head in front but she’s still improving and given that she now seems pretty versatile with regards to conditions, she might be worth a speculative each-way in the mares’ hurdle.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.