Five to follow! Marine Nationale, El Fabiolo and Brandy Love among the horses will thrive in 2023 | race news
Five to follow! Marine Nationale, El Fabiolo and Brandy Love among the horses will thrive in 2023 | race news
#follow #Marine #Nationale #Fabiolo #Brandy #Love #among #horses #thrive #race #news Welcome to InNewCL, here is the new story we have for you today:
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With the National Hunt season in full swing, we took a look at five horses set to win Class 1 awards over the next 12 months.
Naval National
This exciting five-year-old rookie hurdler doesn’t hail from an Irish heavyweight stable but has impressed by defeating several from the yards of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott and it looks like one is to follow by 2023.
Trained and owned by Barry Connell, Marine Nationale won a bumper at Punchestown in May and doubled in August before making her hurdles debut at the same venue in August.
Picture: Marine Nationale (right) coming in just ahead of Irish Point at Fairyhouse
But the undefeated Supreme hope was more impressive when she clinched her first Grade One in December, traveling badly from behind before encountering some problems and jumping averagely before showing plenty of speed to get on the line and with a head up for grabs from Irish Point.
That mere form wouldn’t be enough to challenge the likes of Facile Vega, but you can imagine a strong pace – one he would match in the Cheltenham Festival opener – could do and the owner-coach has confirmed that would his goal will be .
Hermes Allen
From one exciting newcomer to another, Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen made quite an impression when he won by a remarkable 27 lengths in hurdles debut under Bryony Frost for owners like Sir Alex Ferguson.
He would prove himself in better company next time, winning at Cheltenham over the Ballymore distance by nine lengths at Cheltenham, although that may not be the ultimate goal this season.
Image: Hermes Allen and Harry Cobden are the last to jump at Cheltenham
Next week’s Challow Hurdle at Newbury looks to be the ideal springboard for the Nicholls team, who have won the race with Stage Star and Bravemansgame in recent years.
Neither of them converted at Cheltenham, however, and it could well be that Aintree is a better match for the five-year-old.
El Fabiolo
El Fabiolo, another conveyor belt French talent entering Willie Mullins’ yard, has yet to see a fence in public but is already second in the Arkle market to Henry VIII winner Jonbon.
El Fabiolo was narrowly beaten by Jonbon at Aintree last season, although the former had a poor jump that day and had an inconvenience on the run so he could be improved and he didn’t fault when he competed at Punchestown later that month .
Image: Jonbon just defeats El Fabiolo in a big fight at Aintree
If, and it’s a big if, he faces the bigger obstacles, he’ll no doubt be a threat to Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon at a reasonable price when March swings around.
brandy love
Brandy Love, another mare on Willie Mullins’ team, is arguably the most exciting mare in training (sorry honeysuckle) after a spectacular season last time she threw away a Fairyhouse Grade Three when she was chasing violently the whole time jumped left.
She would miss the Cheltenham Festival but made up for it at Punchestown, where her jumping ability was not as pronounced, beating Mares’ Novice winner Love Envoi by eight lengths.
Picture: Brandy Love ridden by Paul Townend
The six-year-old could jump fences but is certainly more likely to win a competitive Mares’ hurdle at Cheltenham, although Epatante and Honeysuckle could be on the back foot, Brandy Love is looking up.
Corach Wanderer
A horse that already has an Ultima Handicap Chase win to his credit doesn’t seem like the most obvious horse this year, but Corach Rambler and Lucinda Russell’s team see a different target in the cards this time.
He impressed as a rookie and looks like a reliable jumper now, which is a big plus as the Grand National is the ultimate goal for this eight-year-old.
Image: Corach Rambler scored two wins from three starts over fences with victory at Cheltenham on Friday
He gained just 7lbs for that success at Cheltenham and surprisingly lost 1lb for a good fourth place finish in the hard-fought Corl Gold Cup – a mark of 146 could well be worth protecting for a team that knows what it takes Everything to win the greatest race in the world.
