The Tipsters Tips 25/26

[Eggs]

ATRs Dave Orton has put a few early fancies up on ATR website;

THE NEW LION

Champion Hurdle

Last season’s Champion Hurdle was carnage – Constitution Hill and State Man out, Golden Ace the shock 25-1 winner. State Man was cruising before his fall and remains the yardstick, but there’s one rising fast to meet him: unbeaten The New Lion.

Dan and Harry Skelton’s star was devastating in the Turners, form good enough to have gone close in the Champion itself. Smooth-travelling, progressive, and oozing class, he could be the one who shakes up the established order.

If he kicks off the season with a win in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, his current 4-1 quote will vanish in a hurry.

WENDIGO​

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase​

Few in Britain match Jamie Snowden when it comes to plotting a spring target. Aintree’s Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle win with Julius Des Pictons showed what he can do – and Wendigo looks the next in line.

Twice second to serious horses last term, including runner-up to The New Lion in the Challow, he shaped far better than the result in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle after getting badly hampered. When he got reorganised, he flew home.

Now schooling smartly for fences, the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase is the obvious call. Soft ground, fast ground, it doesn’t matter – at 25-1, he’s a cracking early play for Cheltenham 2026.

MAJBOROUGH​

Queen Mother Champion Chase​

The class act of the two-mile novice chasers last term, Majborough looked a banker in the Arkle… until he nearly demolished the second-last. Somehow, he still almost won, going down by less than a length after another error at the last. That grit said everything.

He made amends at Punchestown, winning as he liked despite jumping left, and 8-1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase feels generous. He’s still only six next March, room for more polish, and if he stays unbeaten through his prep, that price will look absurdly big.

JASMIN DE VAUX​

Stayers' Hurdle​

The staying hurdle division is crying out for new blood. Teahupoo sets the standard but he’s beatable – and this could be Jasmin De Vaux’s turn to take over. Around 8-1 looks more than fair if Mullins sticks to hurdles.

It was a rocky start last season: fluent debut, two shockers next, and questions raised. Then up to three miles in the Albert Bartlett – bang! Everything clicked. He powered home, followed up at Punchestown despite a hairy moment at the last, and suddenly the picture made sense.

Two from two at Cheltenham, built for the job, and still maturing – the profile screams Stayers’ Hurdle player.

 

[Lobos]

Can't argue with any of those.


October Yankee sorted .......lol

 

[Wayward Lad]

Willie has thrown a spanner in the works with Majborough suggesting Ryanair rather than Champ Chase……although a lot can happen between now and next March and maybe how Fact to File performs over the season could have an impact on where Maj runs as well?

Willie seems to think Il Etait Temps is maybe his 2m G1 Chaser and if he wins the Tingle Creek surely he goes to the QM Champ Chase at a shorter price than he is now?

 

[Exar Essay]

Willie has thrown a spanner in the works with Majborough suggesting Ryanair rather than Champ Chase……although a lot can happen between now and next March and maybe how Fact to File performs over the season could have an impact on where Maj runs as well?

Willie seems to think Il Etait Temps is maybe his 2m G1 Chaser and if he wins the Tingle Creek surely he goes to the QM Champ Chase at a shorter price than he is now?

If you watch the video, Willie talks very differently to how it is reported in writing. Willie basically says it's a 2-mile campaign ending at the Champion Chase unless he messes up along the way. In my view, Il Etait Temps is being campaigned partly in the UK to avoid clashing with Majborough - like when Energumene and El Fabiolo were kept apart 2-seasons ago.

 

[archie]

Can't argue with any of those.


October Yankee sorted .......lol

It took me 5 months to get Wendigo in a yankee so best of luck with that.

 

[Eggs]

Willie has thrown a spanner in the works with Majborough suggesting Ryanair rather than Champ Chase……although a lot can happen between now and next March and maybe how Fact to File performs over the season could have an impact on where Maj runs as well?

Willie seems to think Il Etait Temps is maybe his 2m G1 Chaser and if he wins the Tingle Creek surely he goes to the QM Champ Chase at a shorter price than he is now?

Majborough from ATR Stable Tour;
‘The plan is to start him off in the Hilly Way Chase. It was a big surprise to us that he made the jumping mistakes that he did at Cheltenham. It wasn’t like him at all. We just want to work out whether jumping at two-mile pace is an issue for him, whether we got the riding tactics wrong or whether it was just a one-off. Our inclination is to start him off over two miles and if he jumps well, he might well stay at around that trip. If his jumping hints that he might need a change, we have the option of going up with trip. He looks stronger than ever this season.’

IET;
‘We are aiming him at the Tingle Creek Chase. We don’t usually like to go there with horses having their first run of the season, but he performed so well when fresh in the Celebration Chase that it made us think it might be an option. He could possibly go for the Clonmel Oil Chase first if he’s ready and the ground is suitable, otherwise we’ll go to Sandown without a run. Based on what he showed at Sandown, he looks likely to be a big player in the two-mile chase division.’

F2F;
‘He obviously a Ryanair or Gold Cup type. JP McManus owns the Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin, so he might want to keep them apart, we’ll have to cross those bridges when we get to them. We think the King George would be a lovely race for him and he is one of a few of ours that are in the mix for that.’

 

[Eggs]

It took me 5 months to get Wendigo in a yankee so best of luck with that.

….you can always volunteer to Captain the January effort, Archie

I like him too & put him in a few multiples of my own.

 

[Eggs]

….SL’s David Ord’s horse to follow;

As a broodmare, Debdebdeb’s first date was with 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Camelot, resulting in the useful Flat stayer Dillian. But reflecting her own dual-purpose racing career, she subsequently produced a foal to top jumping sire Walk In The Park and looks to have a very promising future jumper with the result of that mating being impressive Huntingdon bumper winner Mydaddypaddy. Ridden by Harry Skelton, who had partnered Debdebdeb to all three of her wins for the yard, Mydaddypaddy clearly came with something of a reputation and was sent off the 15/8 favourite for his debut.

He could hardly have won in more taking style having been dropped out last of all for much of the way. But towards the end of the back straight, Mydaddypaddy quickly began to pass horses on the bridle out wide and was still travelling strongly when produced to lead entering the straight. From that point, it was a one-horse race, with Mydaddypaddy readily quickening clear once shaken up to pull 11 lengths clear. That may have been a thin race, but that doesn’t alter the fact that the tall, useful-looking Mydaddypaddy will be a most exciting prospect for novice hurdles. Dan Skelton

---

David Ord says: “He might have seen the trainers’ title slip through his fingers on the final day of the last two seasons, but Dan Skelton goes into the new campaign with his largest ever string and with a host of exciting young prospects. Among those is Mydaddypaddy who looked something out of the ordinary when winning a Huntingdon bumper in March, making an eye-catching move from the rear turning in and then quickening clear of his rivals in a matter of strides. He’s the sort to run up a sequence over hurdles before his sights are raised.”