Saturday, 25th of January, saw racing fans tune in to the always-informative Festival Trials Day from Cheltenham as punters sought clues ahead of the centrepiece of the racing year.
Looking back at the Grade 2 events at the 2024 edition of the meeting, only Unibet Hurdle winner Lossiemouth followed up in March when stepping up in trip to claim the Mares’ Hurdle. Will the 2025 heroes fare any better? Here, we run the rule over the fallout from a cracking day of action.
JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle: Dock Delivers on the Hype
The four-year-olds kicked off the Graded action in a race won by Champion Hurdlers Hors La Loi III and Katchit in the past. Whether the James Owen-trained East India Dock goes on to scale such heights remains to be seen, but he could scarcely have passed this test more emphatically.
Arriving with a perfect two-from-two record over hurdles - including an 18-length demolition job in the Triumph Trial around the Old Course in November - this ex-flat performer started as the red-hot 1/2 favourite. Backers never had a moment of concern.
Soon in front, the mount of Sam Twiston-Davies had many of those in behind struggling by halfway. Once the final challenger, Stencil, cracked in the straight, it was simply a question of how far?
Ten lengths was the answer to that question, with East India Dock clipped into 7/2 from 13/2 by bet365 for the Triumph on the back of this display. Now a dual Grade 2 winner at Cheltenham, there’s a lot to like about his claims. James Owen certainly appeared optimistic when stating, “I wouldn't swap him for any other horse” in the Triumph field.
Runner-up Stencil was no match for the high-class winner but ran well on British debut. He looks a solid contender for the Fred Winter, for which he is now the 7/1 favourite with Betfred.
Betfair Cotswold Chase: Presse Passes Test
Not since Looks Like Trouble in 2000 has the Cotswold Chase winner followed up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse will be the latest to attempt to break that trend following this tenacious victory from Stage Star.
Sent off as the 4/5f, the ten-year-old looked like the one to beat, with each of his five rivals having some sort of question to answer. In the end, it wasn’t quite as easy as it might have been, thanks to a gallant effort from a back-to-form Stage Star.
However, when push came to shove over the final two fences, the staying power of L’Homme Presse (which many had questioned in the past) won the day.
The 2022 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase winner took his Cheltenham record to three wins from four starts, with the only defeat being his 15½l fourth to Galopin Des Champs in the 2024 Gold Cup. That’s a big margin to turn around with the champ, but he did return with a pretty nasty cut that day, and he may fare better granted a clear round. A general 25/1 before the race, he is now a best price of 20/1 with BetVictor and others for Gold Cup glory.
Runner-up Stage Star appears likely to skip Cheltenham this year but looks like a big player for the Aintree Bowl on this evidence.
Unibet Hurdle: Hill Gives Backers a Fright
Whilst there is no such thing as a certainty in horse racing, the 2025 edition of this Champion Hurdle trial was about as close to a penalty kick as you can get.
29lb and more ahead of the field on ratings, having recently mastered Lossiemouth on his belated return in the Christmas Hurdle, and unbeaten in nine previous outings under rules, Constitution Hill had this race at his mercy.
Hitting the front five from home, Nico de Boinville soon opened up a seemingly unassailable advantage as the rest knuckled down in a separate race for second. However, those counting their money having lumped on at odds of 1/12 were given a heart flutter at the last hurdle, where Constitution Hill barely lifted a leg when ploughing through the obstacle. Happily, he kept his balance to canter home three lengths clear of the field.
In easily beating a field of inferior rivals, we learnt little we didn’t already know about the Nicky Henderson star, other than that he remains fit and well. He is relatively unchanged to reclaim his Champion Hurdle crown at a general 4/7.
Betfair Cleeve Hurdle: Blow to British Duo
The big event for the staying hurdlers has a fair record of producing the Stayers’ Hurdle winner in the 20th Century, with Inglis Drever (2008), Big Bucks (2009 & 2012), Thistlecrack (2016), and Paisley Park (2019) all landing this contest and the big one at the Cheltenham Festival.
Ahead of the 2025 edition, the 2024 Liverpool Hurdle champ, Strong Leader, and 2025 Long Walk Hurdle winner, Crambo, appeared most likely to add their names to that list. However, the pair performed so poorly that it must be debatable whether they even line up at the Festival in March.
Crambo didn’t help himself with a blunder down the far side but never looked like getting involved and ultimately trailed home 17¾l adrift of the winner in fifth. Having managed only a 14½l in the 2024 Stayers Hurdle, the evidence is mounting up that Cheltenham simply isn’t his track.
In finishing a 7¾l fourth, Strong Leader performed marginally better on his first start since a wind op. However, his record at Cheltenham now stands at zero wins from five outings, and he will almost certainly be kept fresh for the defence of his Liverpool Hurdle crown.
In the end, the prize fell to the Nigel Twiston-Davies runner Gowel Road, and few could begrudge him this success. Having made his seasonal return in October, the nine-year-old arrived with 2024/25 form figures of 2222, with all four runners-up efforts having come at Cheltenham. With the greatest respect to the horse, he managed only sixth in the Pertemps Networks Final at the 2024 Festival, which illustrates the subpar standard of the 2025 Cleeve Hurdle.
Ais Novices’ Hurdle: A Bridge Too Far for Potters Charm
Finally, we are sure we weren’t alone in believing this event for the up-and-coming hurdlers would most likely fall to the six-timer-seeking Potters Corner. Seemingly held in high regard at home and having looked the part at the track, the 8/15F was the one to beat as he dropped down to a Grade 2 following his Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle success.
However, beaten he was, and comfortably so, by the highly impressive Fergal O’Brien-trained Sixmilebridge. This son of Affinsea also arrived on the crest of a wave following easy wins at Leicester and Huntingdon but, with each of those coming in Class 4 company, he faced a steep rise in class. He handled it with aplomb.
Always travelling well towards the head of affairs, the six-year-old asserted around the home bend and responded brilliantly to his rider's urgings to power 8½l clear of a labouring Potters Charm. As big as 66/1 for the Turners Novices Hurdle before the race, he is now into 12/1 with bet365. Potters Charm is out from 16/1 from a general 7/1.
Paul Harrison
Falling in love with racing at a young age, Paul’s passion for sports and betting took him to Salford University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with Gambling Studies. Having spent ten years in the employment of a leading bookmaker, Paul opted to go it alone and pursue his dream job as a freelance writer.
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