With the National Hunt season now well underway, horse racing fans are already looking forward to the major spring festivals in 2023.
The Cheltenham Festival dominates the headlines in jump racing, while the Grand National meeting and Punchestown Festival also generate plenty of interest.
With that in mind, we take a look at four horses we think are worth following over the coming months, starting with one that was prominent in the Grand National 2022 results earlier this year.
Delta Work
Delta Work has got the Cross-Country Chase at Cheltenham and the Aintree Grand National as his main seasonal objectives.
The five-time Grade 1 winner famously denied stablemate Tiger Roll the opportunity to sign off his glittering career with a victory by pipping him on the run-in in last season’s Cross-Country Chase.
Gordon Elliott’s charge went on to run a fine race in the Grand National, staying on into third place after overcoming some sticky jumping during the early stages.
Elliott knows what it takes to win long-distances races and it would be no surprise to see Delta Work scoop both prizes next spring.
Facile Vega
Top Irish trainer Willie Mullions has been unable to hide the esteem in which he holds Facile Vega after the horse rattled off four successive bumper victories last season.
He beat high-class fields at Cheltenham and Punchestown, showing an electric turn of foot that will stand him in good stead during his novice hurdling campaign.
A tilt at the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham is likely to be the main target, although Mullins has not ruled out targeting the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.
Whichever route he goes down, Facile Vega will be extremely tough to beat and is fully expected to take high rank over hurdles this season.
Gelino Bello
Gelino Bello rounded off an impressive first season over hurdles with an eye-catching victory in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.
He was long odds-on to make a winning debut over fences at Wetherby in October and duly obliged in a two-runner race.
Trainer Paul Nicholls will have left plenty to work on for the rest of the season and has already identified a return to Aintree as the primary seasonal target.
The Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase looks the ideal race for Gelino Bello and it will be intriguing to follow his progress this term.
High Definition
High Definition started his career with two impressive victories on the flat to spark talk that he could be a genuine contender for the 2021 Epsom Derby.
While things did not go to plan, the horse ran plenty of creditable races thereafter, including finishing a neck second in the Tattersalls Gold Cup as a four-year-old.
He recently changed hands for a whopping 350,000 guineas at the sales and has been sent to trainer Joseph O’Brien to embark on a hurdling career.
If High Definition translates his flat form to the jumps game, he could become a leading contender for hurdle races at the big spring festivals.
Jack Timms is an independent writer with 8 years experience in writing sports articles for various magazines and newspapers. Most of his work is on horse racing or football, and he has written for magazines such as Thoroughbred Racing and Luxuria Lifestyle. Jack lives in York with his dog, Poppins.
