The Fellow
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Racing Post experts
Kopek Des Bordes
Champion Chase
5-1 generally
By Richard Birch
If Kopek Des Bordes had landed cleanly over the final fence in the Arkle, it’s highly likely he would be boasting a record of six wins from seven starts, his sole defeat coming at odds of 30-100 at Punchestown last year.
This is a horse with amazing natural talent, and the way he winged his way round Cheltenham in the second half of the race on just his second start over fences spoke volumes.
It’s hard not to believe the best is yet to come from this six-year-old, and he looks like a ready-made winner of the Champion Chase in 2027.
Granted an injury-free run and more experience over fences, he really could be an awesome two-miler by next spring, one that’s capable of dominating the division for years.
Kargese
Champion Chase
10-1 generally
By James Hill
Il Etait Temps was brilliant in last Wednesday’s Champion Chase, but I thought Paul Townend was even better and, with the greatest respect to Libberty Hunter, the fact he was second suggests it probably wasn’t the strongest running. As for Majborough, I don’t think we’ll be seeing him over two miles again so have no idea why he’s an 8-1 shot for the 2027 version.
The Arkle, in contrast, was fought out by three really good horses, with the winner, Kargese, the best jumper of the three. She’s always been a bit of a head case, but continues to improve and has really found her niche over fences. I think she is well capable of making it three wins at the festival if they give her the chance.
No Drama This End
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
25-1 with Unibet
By David Jennings
You seldom see a price a year away from a race and think it's utterly bonkers, but how on earth is No Drama This End 25-1 for the 2027 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase?
That is some overreaction to his blowout in the Turners. He's a big, strapping staying chaser who needs soft ground, so a two-mile-five-furlong hurdle race on quickish ground was never going to be his bag (I backed him nonetheless!).
He basically lost all chance at the start and ran a shocker, but it would be foolish to judge him on that run alone. He beat some good horses in the Challow and I have a feeling he will come into his own next season.
I would imagine the John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury will be his first port of call, then the Kauto Star at Kempton over Christmas, and the last thing you should do is give up on him after Wednesday. He hasn't become a bad horse overnight.
Feel Gut
Supreme Novices' Hurdle
16-1 generally
By Paul Kealy
The best value for next year's festival may lie with a horse whose connections deliberately missed this one. Nicky Henderson decided to be patient with the four-year-old Feel Gut, rather than throw him into a big field for the Triumph Hurdle, and that patience could be rewarded.
In his Unibet-sponsored Racing Post festival preview a week before the event, Henderson made it quite clear as the regard in which he holds Feel Gut, a very easy winner over hurdles at Warwick in January.
That was in one of those Junior National Hunt Hurdle races, and winners of those remain novices for the next season. Feel Gut was second to Macho Man over hurdles at Auteuil and, while the winner cut no ice in the Triumph after a bad mistake, the fourth there, Forty Fifty, finished fourth at Cheltenham, himself looking an interesting possibility for next season, perhaps in the Turners given the way he stayed on.
Feel Gut will head into novice hurdles in the 2026-27 campaign with an advantage in experience, and it's easy enough to see him making big ripples in the market when we next see him.
Kaid D'Authie
Gold Cup
66-1 with Paddy Power or Sky Bet
By Keith Melrose
The novice who has run the best race with a view to next year's Gold Cup can be backed at a frankly silly 66-1. The Brown Advisory looked no better than an average running to me, and Racing Post Ratings agree, placing Kitzbuhel 2lb behind the rating Kaid D'Authie ran to when winning at the Dublin Racing Festival.
It is not like the novices look to be locked out of the division next year, either. Aside from Gaelic Warrior, there is nothing in the current crop of staying chasers to strike terror into the heart of a horse capable of 170 or higher on the RPR scale.
Kaid D'Authie is yet to try the staying trips he is bred for, he fell before things got interesting in the Brown Advisory, and is a huge price to make the relatively small step up required.
Bambino Fever
Mares' Hurdle
25-1 with bet365 or Unibet
By Maddy Playle
She may have been bitterly disappointing in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, but the 2025 Champion Bumper winner Bambino Fever is plainly better than that and surely would have been involved in the finish given how her Naas conqueror, Oldschool Outlaw, ran.
The flashy chestnut could never properly establish a rhythm under Paul Townend, whether that was due to the false start fiasco or quick ground, and she will surely go some way to repairing her reputation later this spring and next season.
With Wodhooh an underwhelming winner who may pursue other avenues next season, the Mares' Hurdle division appears wide open. She looks best-placed to take advantage and 25-1 is decent value.
Grey Dawning
Ryanair Chase
14-1 generally
By Graeme Rodway
It was a great week for grey horses at Cheltenham and Grey Dawning put up a fantastic performance in the Gold Cup. He travelled like the class act that we know he is and traded at nearly half his Betfair SP in running. However, he was left behind by Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie entering the straight and got outstayed late for third by Inothewayurthinkin.
Grey Dawning still did best of the three who helped set the pace (Haiti Couleurs was pulled up and The Jukebox Man finished eighth), and fourth in a Gold Cup is a high-class level of form to be taking into a Ryanair Chase.
That is reportedly going to be the plan next season, according to trainer Dan Skelton, and dropping in trip will definitely suit Grey Dawning, who travels strongly but doesn’t always finish his races as well as he promises.
He has a superb record around Cheltenham and let’s not forget that Skelton did a similar thing with Protektorat, who finished third in the 2022 Gold Cup and fifth in that race the following year, before dropping in trip to land the Ryanair in 2024.
The New Lion
Stayers' Hurdle
33-1 generally
By Tom Segal
Three of the last four runnings of the Stayers' Hurdle have gone to pensioners and the division is crying out for some new blood. Step forward The New Lion, who has no realistic prospects of winning a Champion Hurdle any more and the Skelton team might have been adding two and two together and coming up with five in trying to make him a two-miler.
All his best novice form was over two and a half, his pedigree suggests that three miles will be no issue whatsoever, and he could be a class above the current staying hurdlers.
'I couldn't talk him out of it' - Dan Skelton gives his view on Tom Segal's 33-1 ante-post tip for the 2027 Cheltenham Festival
Boycetown
Turners Novices' Hurdle
50-1 with Paddy Power or Sky Bet
By Alan Sweetman
In the normal course of events, one could reasonably expect several horses from this year's Champion Bumper to return for one of the novice hurdles at the 2027 festival. With three Grade 1 options available, the element of uncertainty is magnified. However, the Gavin Cromwell-trained Boycetown stamped himself as a possible Turners candidate by keeping on for fourth place behind The Mourne Rambler.
By Irish Derby winner Capri out of a Westerner mare, he stayed on well when second on his only point-to-point start last season and made a strong impression with a wide-margin win at Down Royal's Christmas meeting on his second bumper run. He still looks on the raw side and did well to finish on the heels of the two British-trained placed horses at Cheltenham, and around a length in front of the best of the Willie Mullins-trained runners.
William Munny
Champion Hurdle
50-1 generally
By Robbie Wilders
Would you really want to take 3-1 for Lossiemouth to win the 2027 Champion Hurdle? She won the weakest running in memory and so much can change in 12 months.
The forgotten horse in the division is William Munny, who was trading at around 8-1 for this season's Champion Hurdle a few months ago before suffering a setback.
Barry Connell managed to bring Marine Nationale back from the brink to win the Champion Chase last season, and we should remember William Munny gave Kopek Des Bordes plenty to think about when second in the 2025 Supreme.
He remains a top prospect with low mileage and is being aimed at the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.
I suspect William Munny will give Lossiemouth more of a race at Punchestown than Brighterdaysahead and the rest did the other day, so the 50-1 about him for the 2027 Champion is worth snapping up.
Sober Glory
Arkle Novices' Chase
10-1 with bet365 or BetVictor
By Harry Wilson
Everything Sober Glory had done before the Supreme Novices' Hurdle made him look a bit special, bar a blip at Sandown when ridden differently, with the clock backing up the visual impression.
He was winging his way around in front at Cheltenham before a mistake at the last cost him. The way he battled up the hill to finish second – despite also hitting the rail and being hampered – showed he had more left in the tank. It also showed he could cope fine with better ground.
Would he be twice the price of Old Park Star for the Arkle if he hadn't made a mistake at the last? No chance, and this usually slick hurdler could make up into a fine novice chaser next season.
Kopek Des Bordes
Champion Chase
5-1 generally
By Richard Birch
If Kopek Des Bordes had landed cleanly over the final fence in the Arkle, it’s highly likely he would be boasting a record of six wins from seven starts, his sole defeat coming at odds of 30-100 at Punchestown last year.
This is a horse with amazing natural talent, and the way he winged his way round Cheltenham in the second half of the race on just his second start over fences spoke volumes.
It’s hard not to believe the best is yet to come from this six-year-old, and he looks like a ready-made winner of the Champion Chase in 2027.
Granted an injury-free run and more experience over fences, he really could be an awesome two-miler by next spring, one that’s capable of dominating the division for years.
Kargese
Champion Chase
10-1 generally
By James Hill
Il Etait Temps was brilliant in last Wednesday’s Champion Chase, but I thought Paul Townend was even better and, with the greatest respect to Libberty Hunter, the fact he was second suggests it probably wasn’t the strongest running. As for Majborough, I don’t think we’ll be seeing him over two miles again so have no idea why he’s an 8-1 shot for the 2027 version.
The Arkle, in contrast, was fought out by three really good horses, with the winner, Kargese, the best jumper of the three. She’s always been a bit of a head case, but continues to improve and has really found her niche over fences. I think she is well capable of making it three wins at the festival if they give her the chance.
No Drama This End
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
25-1 with Unibet
By David Jennings
You seldom see a price a year away from a race and think it's utterly bonkers, but how on earth is No Drama This End 25-1 for the 2027 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase?
That is some overreaction to his blowout in the Turners. He's a big, strapping staying chaser who needs soft ground, so a two-mile-five-furlong hurdle race on quickish ground was never going to be his bag (I backed him nonetheless!).
He basically lost all chance at the start and ran a shocker, but it would be foolish to judge him on that run alone. He beat some good horses in the Challow and I have a feeling he will come into his own next season.
I would imagine the John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury will be his first port of call, then the Kauto Star at Kempton over Christmas, and the last thing you should do is give up on him after Wednesday. He hasn't become a bad horse overnight.
Feel Gut
Supreme Novices' Hurdle
16-1 generally
By Paul Kealy
The best value for next year's festival may lie with a horse whose connections deliberately missed this one. Nicky Henderson decided to be patient with the four-year-old Feel Gut, rather than throw him into a big field for the Triumph Hurdle, and that patience could be rewarded.
In his Unibet-sponsored Racing Post festival preview a week before the event, Henderson made it quite clear as the regard in which he holds Feel Gut, a very easy winner over hurdles at Warwick in January.
That was in one of those Junior National Hunt Hurdle races, and winners of those remain novices for the next season. Feel Gut was second to Macho Man over hurdles at Auteuil and, while the winner cut no ice in the Triumph after a bad mistake, the fourth there, Forty Fifty, finished fourth at Cheltenham, himself looking an interesting possibility for next season, perhaps in the Turners given the way he stayed on.
Feel Gut will head into novice hurdles in the 2026-27 campaign with an advantage in experience, and it's easy enough to see him making big ripples in the market when we next see him.
Kaid D'Authie
Gold Cup
66-1 with Paddy Power or Sky Bet
By Keith Melrose
The novice who has run the best race with a view to next year's Gold Cup can be backed at a frankly silly 66-1. The Brown Advisory looked no better than an average running to me, and Racing Post Ratings agree, placing Kitzbuhel 2lb behind the rating Kaid D'Authie ran to when winning at the Dublin Racing Festival.
It is not like the novices look to be locked out of the division next year, either. Aside from Gaelic Warrior, there is nothing in the current crop of staying chasers to strike terror into the heart of a horse capable of 170 or higher on the RPR scale.
Kaid D'Authie is yet to try the staying trips he is bred for, he fell before things got interesting in the Brown Advisory, and is a huge price to make the relatively small step up required.
Bambino Fever
Mares' Hurdle
25-1 with bet365 or Unibet
By Maddy Playle
She may have been bitterly disappointing in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, but the 2025 Champion Bumper winner Bambino Fever is plainly better than that and surely would have been involved in the finish given how her Naas conqueror, Oldschool Outlaw, ran.
The flashy chestnut could never properly establish a rhythm under Paul Townend, whether that was due to the false start fiasco or quick ground, and she will surely go some way to repairing her reputation later this spring and next season.
With Wodhooh an underwhelming winner who may pursue other avenues next season, the Mares' Hurdle division appears wide open. She looks best-placed to take advantage and 25-1 is decent value.
Grey Dawning
Ryanair Chase
14-1 generally
By Graeme Rodway
It was a great week for grey horses at Cheltenham and Grey Dawning put up a fantastic performance in the Gold Cup. He travelled like the class act that we know he is and traded at nearly half his Betfair SP in running. However, he was left behind by Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie entering the straight and got outstayed late for third by Inothewayurthinkin.
Grey Dawning still did best of the three who helped set the pace (Haiti Couleurs was pulled up and The Jukebox Man finished eighth), and fourth in a Gold Cup is a high-class level of form to be taking into a Ryanair Chase.
That is reportedly going to be the plan next season, according to trainer Dan Skelton, and dropping in trip will definitely suit Grey Dawning, who travels strongly but doesn’t always finish his races as well as he promises.
He has a superb record around Cheltenham and let’s not forget that Skelton did a similar thing with Protektorat, who finished third in the 2022 Gold Cup and fifth in that race the following year, before dropping in trip to land the Ryanair in 2024.
The New Lion
Stayers' Hurdle
33-1 generally
By Tom Segal
Three of the last four runnings of the Stayers' Hurdle have gone to pensioners and the division is crying out for some new blood. Step forward The New Lion, who has no realistic prospects of winning a Champion Hurdle any more and the Skelton team might have been adding two and two together and coming up with five in trying to make him a two-miler.
All his best novice form was over two and a half, his pedigree suggests that three miles will be no issue whatsoever, and he could be a class above the current staying hurdlers.
'I couldn't talk him out of it' - Dan Skelton gives his view on Tom Segal's 33-1 ante-post tip for the 2027 Cheltenham Festival
Boycetown
Turners Novices' Hurdle
50-1 with Paddy Power or Sky Bet
By Alan Sweetman
In the normal course of events, one could reasonably expect several horses from this year's Champion Bumper to return for one of the novice hurdles at the 2027 festival. With three Grade 1 options available, the element of uncertainty is magnified. However, the Gavin Cromwell-trained Boycetown stamped himself as a possible Turners candidate by keeping on for fourth place behind The Mourne Rambler.
By Irish Derby winner Capri out of a Westerner mare, he stayed on well when second on his only point-to-point start last season and made a strong impression with a wide-margin win at Down Royal's Christmas meeting on his second bumper run. He still looks on the raw side and did well to finish on the heels of the two British-trained placed horses at Cheltenham, and around a length in front of the best of the Willie Mullins-trained runners.
William Munny
Champion Hurdle
50-1 generally
By Robbie Wilders
Would you really want to take 3-1 for Lossiemouth to win the 2027 Champion Hurdle? She won the weakest running in memory and so much can change in 12 months.
The forgotten horse in the division is William Munny, who was trading at around 8-1 for this season's Champion Hurdle a few months ago before suffering a setback.
Barry Connell managed to bring Marine Nationale back from the brink to win the Champion Chase last season, and we should remember William Munny gave Kopek Des Bordes plenty to think about when second in the 2025 Supreme.
He remains a top prospect with low mileage and is being aimed at the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.
I suspect William Munny will give Lossiemouth more of a race at Punchestown than Brighterdaysahead and the rest did the other day, so the 50-1 about him for the 2027 Champion is worth snapping up.
Sober Glory
Arkle Novices' Chase
10-1 with bet365 or BetVictor
By Harry Wilson
Everything Sober Glory had done before the Supreme Novices' Hurdle made him look a bit special, bar a blip at Sandown when ridden differently, with the clock backing up the visual impression.
He was winging his way around in front at Cheltenham before a mistake at the last cost him. The way he battled up the hill to finish second – despite also hitting the rail and being hampered – showed he had more left in the tank. It also showed he could cope fine with better ground.
Would he be twice the price of Old Park Star for the Arkle if he hadn't made a mistake at the last? No chance, and this usually slick hurdler could make up into a fine novice chaser next season.
