There were a lot of horses showing strength during the last season, and although champions like Shishkin stand out, we want to take a look at the hidden gems you might not have noticed.
The list of horses you should watch out for aren’t exactly the youngest or newest in the races, but they are hitting their stride and should be taken more seriously.
Today, we will walk you through the up and coming racehorses to keep an eye on this season!
Allart
Allart is another horse trained by Nicky Henderson. If you recognize that name but don’t know where to place it, simply look at the best horses on the tracks at the moment. Chantry House and Shishkin are both under Henerson’s teachings, and they have had an impressive career so far!
Allart might not be in their league just yet, but he is on his way up. During the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle race in the Cheltenham Festival (2020), he made a fantastic show that put him right at the top of our watch list!
During the race, he was leading for a time; he was even part of the leading quintet that had created a substantial distance between the other contestants. If he had managed to keep his speed, he might have even won the race.
We can expect Allart to face a great career in fence jumping.
Appreciate It
Willie Mullins, the former jockey turned horse racing trainer, has recently picked up a whole team of novice horses. He has been preparing them for jumps and endurance, and with his skills, we can see nothing but greatness from the animals.
Although you can look at handicapping speed to pick horse winners, judging Appreciate It’s performance so far is enough to show you his worth. We expect him to reach the top spot in the hurdling division next season!
Just looking at the Leopardstown races alone, he destroyed the competition to the point where everyone started betting on the champ already. And if Appreciate It didn’t get tapped by Ferny Hollow, he might have won the Champion Bumper.
As a novice, we expect high level skills from this horse. Although there is one worry; watching this horse race, you can see just how much power he puts into the jumps. He has a massive burst of energy to push through the competition, but this does mean he might burn out.
Butte Montana
Montana is young for a racing horse, and yet when he showed his stuff at the Cheltenham races, he was just as powerful as the rest.
This alone tells us that the up and comer should be watched carefully. This season he should do more than just match his competitors. Instead, we expect him to push past them as his strength continues to grow.
Age shouldn’t really be a factor, but coming in so strong so young is enough to tell us that Butte Montana is going to be a star.
Although the horse was beaten at Ascot, that doesn’t mean his chances are over. Instead, we think he is just getting into his stride. However, there is something that puts a cloud on this horse’s parade.
We haven’t seen Butte Montana since that last race. It could be nothing, or it could mean something. Hopefully, we get to see Butte Montana race again.
Column of Fire
Column of Fire might seem like an odd choice seeing as he came in last place during the Martin Pipe. However, at that time, we thought he would win. Remember that his rider was Eoin Walsh, but now has Gordon Elliott as a trainer to push him closer to that potential.
In the lead up for the races, Column of Fire has been campaigned for. This means that those who have seen his practice know that he is ready to try again. With trust in our experts and eyes on the scene, we believe that Column of Fire should be kept an eye on at least. Don’t dismiss him yet!
Daly Tiger
If you have followed Noel Meade’s career at all, you will have noticed he only sends horses to Cheltenham races when there is no chance they can be outperformed. He might send them to other races to train them and see how they fare, but Cheltenham is seen as an “all or nothing” race in his eyes.
So seeing Daly Tiger in the running is already something to think about. Some are surprised by this turn of events as Daly Tiger has lost races to some of the best novices in the running, and even we will admit that his performance hasn’t been super shiny. But Meade can see something in this trotter that the rest of us are ignoring.
Keep an eye on this horse as their trainer may have something up their sleeve.
Summary
This season it’s the black horses we need to watch out for. The ones who are teetering on the edge of power or failure. They will bring you the biggest wins and the most exciting races.
