Tag Archive for: Cheltenham Trials Day

Saturday TV Trends: 24th Jan 2026

/in /by

Another massive day of horse racing this Saturday with ‘Trials Day’ at Cheltenham – their last meeting before the Festival in March. Therefore, plenty more clues to be had, including top races like the Cleeve Hurdle and Cotswold Chase – a race only three favourites in the last 22 runnings have won.

The ITV cameras are also heading to Doncaster to take in the best of their action, including the ultra-competitive Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase and the River Don Novices' Hurdle.

As always, here at GeeGeez, we've got it all covered with all the key trends – use these stats to help find the best past winning profiles to help whittle down the runners and hopefully pin-point a few winners.

Cheltenham Trials Day Horse Racing Trends (RTV/ITV)

12:05 – Timeform Novices´ Handicap Chase Cl2 2m 4 1/2f RTV

21/21 – Aged 8 or younger
20/21 – Winners that went onto run at that season’s Cheltenham Festival (5 winners, La Landiere Cathcart 2003, Close Brothers Novices’ Chase, Mister Whitaker 2018, Simply The Betts 2020, Brown Advisory and Merribelle Stable Plate Handicap Chase, 2023 Stage Star, Turners’ Novices Chase. Jagwar, Plate Handicap Chase)
19/21 – Won between 0-2 races over fences in the UK previously
19/21 – Raced within the last 7 weeks
18/21 – Had won over at least 2m4f (fences) in the UK previously
17/21 – Finished either 1st or 2nd last time out
17/21 – Rated 128 or higher
16/21 – Priced 13/2 or shorter
14/21 – Irish bred
14/21 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
13/21 – Carried 11-2 or more
10/21 – Winning distance – 5 lengths or more
9/21 – Won last time out
7/21 – Ran at Kempton last time out
6/21 – French bred
4/21 – Won with 11-12 in weight
4/21 – Ran at Cheltenham last time out
3/21 – Trained by Venetia Williams
3/21 – Winning favourites (2 in the last 14 runnings, but 2 of the last 3)
2/21 – Trained by Tizzard yard
Trainer Paul Nicholls & jockey Harry Cobden have won 2 of the last 3 runnings
9 of the last 12 winners aged 7 or 8

2025 Winner: JAGWAR (Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero) 4/1

12:40 – JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2) Cl1 2m1f RTV

19/21 – Finished 1st or 2nd last time out
18/21 – Had raced within the last 7 weeks
17/21 – Placed favourites
16/21 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
14/21 – Winners that went onto run in that season’s Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival
14/21 – Won last time out
13/21 – Had previously won at least once over hurdles in the UK
13/21 – Returned 2/1 or shorter in the market
11/21 – Winning distance – 2 ¼ lengths or less
11/21 – French bred (including 8 of last 10 winners)
11/21 – Winning favourites (1 joint)
9/21 – Went onto be placed in that season’s Triumph Hurdle (3 winners, Defi Du Seuil 2017, Peace & Co 2015, Katchit 2007)
6/21 – Had raced at Cheltenham previously
4/21 – Trained by Alan King
4/21 – Priced 25/1, 50/1 or 100/1
4/21 – Won by an Irish bred horse
3/21 – Won by a German bred horse
Nicky Henderson has trained 5 of the last 12 winners
4 of the last 8 winners have been owned by JP McManus

2025 Winner: EAST INDIA DOCK (James Owen) 1/2 fav

1:15– Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase (A Handicap) (Grade 3) Cl1 2m 41/2f ITV

19/21 – Priced 9/1 or shorter
18/21 – Rated 130 or higher
17/21 – Had won over at least 2m4f (fences) previously
17/21 – Had won between 1-4 times over fences previously
17/21 – Ran within the last 7 weeks
16/21 – Placed in the top 4 last time out
16/21 – Had run over fences at Cheltenham before (8 won)
14/21 – Aged 8 or older
14/21 – Winners that went onto run at that season’s Cheltenham Festival (1 winner – Siruh Du Lac)
13/21 – Finished 1st or 2nd last time out
13/21 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
12/21 – Aged 8 or 9 years-old
10/21 – Carried 10-7 or less
7/21 – Ran at Cheltenham last time out
7/21 – Won last time out
6/21 – Ran at Newbury last time out
5/21 – Winning favourites
3/21 – Won by a previous winner of the race
2/21 – Won by the Pipe stable
2/21 – Won by the Hobbs yard
2/21 - Won the by the Paul Nicholls yard (2 of the last 7)
2/21 - Won the by the Venetia Williams yard (2 of the last 12)
2/21 - Won the by the Nigel Twiston-Davies yard (2 of the last 8)
3 of the last 8 winners were ridden by a claiming jockey
Last 10 winners aged 8 or younger
Jockey Gavin Sheehan has ridden 2 of the last 11 winners

2025 Winner: MOON D’ ORANGE (John McConnell) 7/2jfav

1:50 – Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase Cl2 (5yo+) 3m 5 1/2f ITV

No previous runnings
Trainer Gordon Elliott is just 5-130 (4%) with his chasers at Cheltenham
Trainer Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero have a 29% SR with their chasers at Cheltenham

2:25 – Betfair Cotswold Chase (Grade 2) Cl1 3m1f110y ITV

22/22 – Officially rated 151 or higher
21/22 – Ran at Cheltenham over fences before (11 had won)
20/22 – Raced in the last 8 weeks
19/21 – Won over at least 3m before (fences)
17/22 – Won between 2-6 times over fences
17/22 – Priced 7/1 or less
14/22 – Went onto race in that season’s Gold Cup (no winners, all placed 8th or better)
14/22 – Placed favourites
14/22 – Ran at either Wetherby (3), Cheltenham (4) or Kempton (7) last time
12/22 – Aged 9 or 10 years-old
10/22 – Winning distance – 6 lengths or more
10/22 – Unplaced last time out
10/22 – Won by an Irish-bred horse
8/22 – Won last time out
8/22 – Won by a French-bred horse
7/22 – Winners from outside the top 3 in the market
3/22 – Won by the Paul Nicholls yard (5 wins in total)
3/22 – Favourites
2/22 - Won by the Henderson yard (2 of the last 6)
2/22 - Won by the Tizzard yard
1/22 – Irish-trained winners (2024)
1/22 – Went onto win the Grand National (Many Clouds, 2015)
1/22 – Went onto win the Ryanair Chase (Frodon, 2019)
11 of the last 18 winners were aged 9 or 10 years-old
The average winning SP in the last 22 runnings is 13/2
Looks Like Trouble (2000) was the last winner to go onto win the Cheltenham Gold Cup
Nicky Henderson has won the race 3 times (1980, 2020, 2022)
No back-to-back winners of the race

2025 Winner: L’HOMME PRESSE (Venetia Williams) 4/5 fav

3:00 Unibet Hurdle (Reg as the International Hurdle) (Grade 2) (GBB Race) Cl1 (4yo+) 2m1f ITV

21/21 – Raced over hurdles at Cheltenham previously
19/21 – Placed in the top 3 in their latest race
18/21 – Raced within the last 6 weeks
18/21 – Won over 2m1f+ (hurdles) previously
18/21 – Won 4 or more times over hurdles previously
16/21 – Won by a horse aged 7 years-old or younger
15/21 – Ran in the Champion Hurdle later that season (5 placed)
15/21 – Favourites placed
14/21 – Favourites that won (1 joint)
14/21 – Priced 5/2 or shorter
13/21 – Won their latest race
13/21 – Won over hurdles at Cheltenham previously
11/21 – Won by a horse aged either 4 or 5 years-old
10/21 – Rated 162 or higher
8/21 – Winning distance: 4+ lengths
6/21 – Won the Greatwood Hurdle (Cheltenham) last time out
6/21 – Won by a French-bred horse
6/21 – Won by trainer Nicky Henderson (4 of the last 7)
5/21 – Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies (4 of the last 11)
4/21 – Ridden by jockey Sam Twiston-Davies (4 of the last 11)
4/21 – Won by an Irish-trained horse
3/21 – Trained by Paul Nicholls (2 of the last 12)
3/21 – Trained by Philip Hobbs
Rooster Booster (2002) the last winner to follow up in the Champion Hurdle (same season)
The average winning SP in the last 8 runnings is 10/3

2025 Winner: CONSTITUTION HILL (Nicky Henderson) 1/12 fav

3:35 – Pertemps Network Cleeve Hurdle (Grade 2) Cl1 3m ITV

19/20 – Ran within the last 8 weeks
18/20 – Won by a horse aged 9 or younger
17/20 – Won at least 3 times over hurdles previously
17/20 – Went to run in that season’s Stayers’ Hurdle (5 won)
16/20 – Raced at Cheltenham (hurdles) previously
14/20 – Officially rated 154 or higher
14/20 – Finished either 1st or 2nd in their last race
13/20 – Winning distance – 2 lengths or more
13/20 – Favourites placed
13/20 – Winners from the top 3 in the market
12/20 – Winners that went onto finish in the top 4 in that season’s Stayers’ Hurdle
9/20 – Won their latest race
9/20 – Favourites that won
7/20 – Won by a French-bred horse
3/20 – Won by the Paul Nicholls stable
6 winners in total won the Stayers’ Hurdle (same season)
Nicky Henderson has NEVER won the Cleeve Hurdle

Note: The 2006 running was staged at Sandown

2025 Winner: GOWEL ROAD (Nigel Twiston-Davies) 5/2 jfav

4:10 – AIS Novices’ Novices´ Hurdle (Grade 2) (CLASS 1) (4yo+) 2m4f110y ITV

19/19 – Placed 1st or 2nd in their last race
18/19 – Ran within the last 8 weeks
15/19 – Won between 1-3 times over hurdles previously
16/19 – Winners that later raced at that season’s Cheltenham Festival (3 winners)
16/19 – Winners from the top 3 in the market
15/19 – Won their latest race
15/19 – Won over at least 2m4f (hurdles) previously
14/19 – Favourites placed
13/19 – Won by a horse aged 6 years-old
12/19 – Winning distance – 2 ½ lengths or more
12/19 – Priced 4/1 or shorter
10/19 – Raced at Cheltenham previously
7/19 – Favourites that won
5/19 – Raced at Cheltenham last time out
5/19– Raced at Newbury last time out
4/19 – Won by the Nicky Henderson stable
4/19 – Won by the Alan King stable
3/19 – Winners that went onto win at that season’s Cheltenham Festival

2025 Winner: POTTERS CHARM (Nigel Twiston-Davies) 8/15 fav

Note: 2025 Sixmilebridge won (9/1) but was later disqualified for a banned substance

Doncaster Horse Racing Trends (RacingTV/ITV)

12:55 – River Don Novices´ Hurdle (Grade 2) Cl1 3m110y ITV

15/16 – Had won between 1-3 times over hurdles in the UK before
14/16 – Had raced within the last 6 weeks
13/16 – Placed in the top 3 last time out
10/16 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
11/16 – Winning distance – 1 ½ lengths or less
9/16 – Placed favourites
9/16 – Irish bred
8/16 – Won last time out
6/16 – Had raced at Doncaster before
3/16 – Winning favourite
3/16 - Trained By Ben Pauling (3 of the last 10)
2/16 – Trained by Nicky Henderson
2/16 - Ridden by Nico de Boinville
8 of the last 10 winners aged 6 or 7

2025 Winner: YELLOW CAR (David Killahena & Graeme McPherson) 10/1

1:30 – Yorkshire Rose Mares´ Hurdle (Grade 2) Cl1 3m 1/2f ITV

10/10 – Aged between 7-9
10/10 – Favourites placed (top 3)
9/10 – Won over at least 2m4f (hurdles) before
9/10 – Top 3 finish last time out
8/10 – Returned 5/2 or shorter
7/10 – Winning favourites
7/10 – Ran in the last 4 weeks
7/10 – Went onto run in the Mares’ Hurdle (Cheltenham) 1 winner – Vroum Vroum Mag (2016)
7/10 – Won 4+ times over hurdles
5/10 – Won last time out
4/10 – Irish-trained
2/10 – Trained by Dan Skelton
2/10 – Ridden by Harry Skelton
Trainer Jessie Harrington has won 3 of the last 6
Note: From 2022 the race was run at Ascot

2025 Winner: JETARA (Jessie Harrington) 10/3

2:05 –The Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (CLASS 1) (5yo+ 0-155) 3m ITV

19/20 – Had won between 0-3 times over fences before
17/20 – Carried 11-2 or less
16/20 – Officially rated 129 or higher
14/20 – Had won over at least 3m (fences) before
15/20 – Aged 9 or younger
14/20 – Irish bred
13/20 – Unplaced favourites
13/20 – Had raced within the last 4 weeks
12/20 – Returned 9/1 or shorter in the betting
12/20 – Carried 10-12 or less
11/20 – Finished unplaced last time out
8/20 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
5/20 – Raced at Cheltenham last time out
3/20 – Won last time out
2/20 – Trained by Paul Nicholls
2/20 – Trained by the Pipe stable
2/20 – Winning favourites (1 in the last 11)
2/20 – Trained by Alan King
6 of the last 19 winners went onto run in that season’s Grand National (no winners, all unplaced)
The last 10 winners returned 9/1 or bigger
Note: The 2007 running was staged at Southwell

2025 Winner: DOCPICKEDME (Richard Hobson) 9/1

 

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Roving Reports: “Are you sure?”

/in /by

It’s 6.50am on Saturday morning, and the alarm has just bleeped its way through the first of three wake-up calls (copyright D. Thompson), writes David Massey. The other two, which will come at 6.55 and 7am, signify the start of what has become known among jumps fans as Trials Day, but the good lady is having her own trials at the moment, torn between wanting to come for a day at the races with me, and the immediate warmth and comfort of a lie-in. 

“Eh, what, errrr, what?” is the reply I get when I ask if she’s tagging along. Unsure of whether this is a yes, no or maybe, I give her another five minutes to make up her mind before she decides that yes, she’s coming along for the entertainment. I know this means I’ll be driving home tonight in silence, as her falling asleep on the way home is now the nap of the day. Quite literally. 

We’re out of the house for eight, as I have to be there for around ten due to working on the rails today. It’s the usual stop-off at the Maccies two miles from our house for breakfast and it’s the usual muck-up with the order too, as somehow they manage to put cheese on both of our bacon rolls. Now I like cheese, and I like bacon, a lot, but just not together. One of these times, they’ll get the order right. (Wrong coffees last time. More trials…) 

So, after an early start and the wrong food order, you can imagine the good lady is already in a cracking mood. I turn the radio up, which seems like a good idea. 

Driving down, we can see how the floods have receded around the Worcester area. Last time we drove this way the Avon had flooded badly, and the fields were lakes, but most of it, all bar a bit just before Strensham where there was still some low-lying water, has disappeared. Amazing how quick the ground has recovered. 

The morning call comes in from my writing colleague Rory Delargy as I drive down. Rory, as many of you will know, is working in Riyadh half the time at present. At the weekend he flies into Dublin to do the PP Podcast on a Monday with Ruby Walsh before flying back. He’s spent more miles in the air than your average Arctic Tern this winter. 

He’s also in the bad books of the good lady after forgetting the time difference between Riyadh and Nottingham the other morning, and ringing me at precisely 5.56am. I know this, because the good lady looked at her alarm clock before asking the not unreasonable question “who the f**k is ringing you at 5.56am?” I saw it was Rory, immediately realised what he’d done, and declined the call. He called back at 5.58am, which only made a bad situation worse.  

We make good time and are there for just before ten, which means I get time to say a few hellos to some fellow press and photographers. “Going to Yarmouth this year?” asks one of the snappers. He knows full well I’m not, which is why he keeps asking every time he sees me. I tell him I’m having a badge made that says “NOT GOING TO YARMOUTH” that I can point to every time he asks me. 

Anyway, the pick is made at 10.30 and I’m stood next to Pinno, so it’ll be an afternoon of him asking me questions that all end in the words “Davey Boy.” “Can we get this jolly beat, Davey Boy?” is the first of them. He’s referring to Burdett Road, who was the favourite when he asked, but they flip-flop and Sir Gino then heads the market. It’s normally slow to get going but not today: it’s lively out there, and in comes a grand on Burdett Road at 11-8. That’s followed by a £200 on Sir Gino, and clearly this is a race that’s divided opinion. As it should! We go the right way with Sir Gino and we’re off to a good start. 

The next, though, is not so good. We go 9-2 Ginny’s Destiny near the off, having not taken much for it, and I’m filled in good and proper. Bets are flying in at me, 40s and 50s, a 200 win and a 400 win. I can just about keep up. Two out I think we’ve a chance with Es Perfecto, but by the time the last comes around, it’s game over. A 3k+ payout, which not only hits your float hard, but the line to get paid out is long, and doesn’t help my business for the next. 

Here’s Tracy, one of my favourite punters. A Cheltenham member, she has a fiver on every race and if you followed her blind, you’d not go far wrong. Always cheery and smiling, she has a fiver on Ga Law for the next. A minute later, I take a 300ew at 7s the same horse and when that romps home, that’s my float done. I go and ask the boss for more money. “Try to stop laying winners, that might help.” I’ll write that down, might come in handy. 

Capodanno is a better result for us and stops the rot, but now it’s Jonbon time. I’m betting with and without the jolly, and there’s plenty want to back Nube Negra without the favourite at 4-1. I do NOT take an each-way bet on Jonbon - a first - but one lady wants £2 on him just so she can say she backed a winner. I don’t need to tell you how that went. 

I have a group of young lads and lasses not far in front of me at the off. Whilst Jonbon runs, they’re all taking Insta photos of one another with the track behind them. None of them has any interest in what's going on. When Jonbon clouts four out and raises a big “wooooh” from the crowd, it barely registers with them. Does it depress me? I’m afraid it does. 

Elixir De Nutz is all but a skinner. One person has had a tenner with me, and that’s it. When he picks his money up and informs me he actually backed the wrong horse… I tell him that, as he’s told me this information, I get to keep the winnings. For a split second I think he believed me. 

The flip side of a skinner, particularly when you’ve another odds-on jolly in the next, is that it kills business off. We’re all stood around looking at one another for much of the next half-hour. I go off to fetch some chocolate which I intend sharing with Joanne, three doors down from me, working for Ken Howells. We often share biscuits and cakes and the like and when I return, she’s deep in thought counting money. I just stand there, holding the Mars Bar, and she bursts out laughing. “What are you laughing at?” I ask. “Because I know what’s coming, and I’m trying to concentrate!” she says, and I split the Mars in half. She doesn’t refuse. 

The crowd want Paisley Park to win, of course they do, and he nearly gets up in the Cleeve. We’re glad he didn’t, but I think we’re the only ones that are. That’s saved another long payout queue. Before the last I see my good friend and fellow Derby County supporter James, who informs me the Rams are one down. And his punting has gone badly. I also know he’s all-in on the Ravens to win the Superbowl. I’m guessing he’s had better weekends. Always tomorrow. 

Gidleigh Park is actually a fair result in the last. Business picked up for it but they all wanted Antrim Coast and Johnnywho, both of whom are well beat. 

And finally, the nap gets beat, as the good lady remains wide awake for the whole of the car journey home. Derby turn it around to win 2-1. And I've backed the first winner at Kempton. The journey home always seems shorter when you’ve had a winner. Scientific fact. 

Next stop, well, maybe Sandown this weekend. See you there. Probably. 

- DM