As the summer months roll on and the Flat season takes centre stage, jumps racing fans are already looking ahead to the return of mud, fences, and future stars.
Whether you’re tracking early horse racing odds or keeping an eye on pre-race horse racing body language for clues, now is the perfect time to spot the horses who could light up the 2025/26 National Hunt campaign.
From unexposed novices to seasoned campaigners ready to peak, here are four names to keep firmly on your radar this season.
Bambino Fever
A 40-length point-to-point winner on debut in May 2024, Bambino Fever kept her unbeaten record intact with four wins under rules last season.
Joining Willie Mullins after that eye-catching debut victory, the future was always going to be bright for this five-year-old.
She won her first start for Closutton in a Mares bumper at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve and followed up in three successive Graded races.
The latter two of those were at the top level in the Champion Bumpers at Cheltenham and Punchestown, respectively.
Bambino Fever is currently the 14/1 favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but those odds will be slashed sharpish if she proves just as good over obstacles. However, the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle is still an option at 3/1.
The New Lion
The most exciting novice hurdlers of last season, The New Lion is ready and roaring to make the step up to open company.
A Bumper winner at Market Rasen on his only start in that sphere, the six-year-old went 4-4 hurdling for the Skeltons.
An impressive victory by almost five lengths in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury on his third outing over timber saw him picked up by the esteemed JP McManus for an undisclosed fee.
The New Lion has raced just once in the Irish billionaire’s iconic green and gold silks, but it was an emphatic appearance—landing the Grade 1 Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.
He’s 9/2 to win the Champion Hurdle back at the Festival next year, and could prove too good even for the more established Lossiemouth and State Man.
Final Demand
Another Mullins-trained horse, Final Demand won a point-to-point in March 2024 and skipped gaining more experience in bumpers when going straight on to win a maiden hurdle at Limerick in December.
He followed that up with a convincing 12-length success in a Group 1 Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown, which saw him installed as the favourite for the Turners—where he was ultimately over five lengths behind The New Lion.
The six-year-old bounced back nicely at Punchestown when scoring in the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, and a switch to the larger obstacles should suit him next year.
Final Demand is already as short as 4/1 for the Brown Advisory Novice Chase, with Turners runner-up The Yellow Clay, at 10/1, as the nearest rival.