GAELIC Warrior’s golden season of 2025/’26 bore the hallmarks of Kauto Star-like versatility, according to Ireland and Britain’s handicapping authorities, who crowned the Cheltenham Gold Cup star as the highest-rated National Hunt horse in training for the campaign just ended.
A mark of 180 for the John Durkan Memorial Chase and runaway Punchestown Gold Cup hero made him the joint-highest rated chaser at the end of a season since the mighty Sprinter Sacre (188), also putting him on a par with 15-length Cheltenham Gold Cup winner of 2022, A Plus Tard, and dual Gold Cup star Galopin Des Champs.
Willie Mullins and Susannah Ricci’s eight-year-old topped the standings in both the long-distance and middle-distance chasing ranks for 2025/’26, while stablemate Il Etait Temps took top honours in the two-mile chasing standings on a mark of 174. Gaelic Warrior’s closest pursuers in the three-mile-plus category are also housed in Closutton. Two-time Grand National winner I Am Maximus ends his season on 173, alongside fellow J.P. McManus-owned Irish Gold Cup winner Fact To File.
Majborough was the only other chaser to reach 170 or higher, and the six highest-rated chasers in training were all housed in Ireland (Marine Nationale, 169, completing the top half dozen).
“The 2025/’26 season was another outstanding year for Ireland,” said Shay Quinn, senior IHRB National Hunt handicapper, speaking at a launch event for the annual ratings this week. “We topped all six divisions [over fences] when including the novices - 16 out of 23 novices were Irish trained - so a very good season. We probably lacked a standout novice, but I think the same couldn’t be said for the older division, with several top-class performances that lit up the season.
“I think ultimately the 2025/’26 season belonged to Gaelic Warrior. He added three more Grade 1s to an already impressive CV. His win in the John Durkan was one of those races that I think will be talked about for years - he was very, very impressive. He was then beaten at Kempton, where the ground was probably quicker than ideal in the King George, and at Leopardstown in the Irish Gold Cup, but he really announced himself as the premier stayer of the campaign at Cheltenham in the Gold Cup. He won with remarkable ease.”
Kauto similarity
Having initially been promoted to 176 after his Cotswolds heroics, the final figure of 180 for the now six-time Grade 1 winner was decided on after his 26-length demolition job at Punchestown last month.
“He produced what was the most impressive performance we’ve seen for quite a while at Punchestown - it was unbelievable,” said the experienced assessor. “His figure of 180 is very high and has only been achieved by the likes of Galopin Des Champs and A Plus Tard at their prime, and, to put it in context, Best Mate is 175.
“I think what makes him even more remarkable is the scope and the range of his accomplishments. He’s an Arkle winner over two miles, he’s a John Durkan winner over two and a half, an Aintree Bowl winner over three miles, and a three-mile-two-furlong winner of a Gold Cup at Cheltenham. That sort of versatility, we haven’t seen it for a long time. I certainly haven’t seen it since Kauto Star.
“While comparisons are probably a little premature yet, few horses since that great chaser have shown the same ability over distances. To be able to dominate over all these distances is remarkable - and he’s still only eight. He still has the chance to prove himself the best of his generation, and I think he will.”
On Fact To File, Quinn added: “It’ll be interesting to see whether he goes back to Ryanair route, but he’s probably a little unfortunate that he’s in the era of Gaelic Warrior. I think he’s he’s been slightly overshadowed now, but he’s still a very, very good horse, and he’s going to win plenty of races.”
Maximus power
BHA handicapper Martin Greenwood heads up the British steeplechase rating team and plays a key role in determining the Randox Grand National weights each year. He expects I Am Maximus to attempt a third win in the race next spring, despite his career-high rating.
“He won off 168 at Aintree this year, and Tiger Roll won his second National off 159 - a pretty good National horse in his own right! It’s a phenomenal achievement from I Am Maximus,” said Greenwood.
“For a while, he didn’t look like getting there in this year’s race, but the extreme stamina he possesses kicked in. Obviously, Jordans, we can argue, maybe did a bit too much too soon. I think that’s a popular opinion, but, nonetheless, to make up maybe 20 lengths in a home straight is an amazing achievement from the winner. I don’t think connections will have any qualms about going again off 173 in next year’s race, or whatever the mark will be then.
“I think we should tip our hats to a modern National great.”
NOT quite as good as Honeysuckle, but the equal of Annie Power’s Champion Hurdle quality. That was the assessment from IHRB National Hunt handicapper Marcus Weedon after Lossiemouth shared the top-rated hurdler honours with Teahupoo in the 2025/’26 rankings.
The pair, operating at opposite ends of the distance spectrum and champions in their respective divisions, were locked together on 162 apiece, though Lossiemouth also runs in open Grade 1 company with a 7lb mares’ allowance to further help her cause.
Over two miles, she was rated 1lb higher than the ill-fated Sir Gino and 3lb in front of her old sparring partner Brighterdaysahead - herself 1lb behind The New Lion in the middle-distance hurdling sector.
“She kicked them out of the way pretty easily in the Champion Hurdle,” Weedon said of Lossiemouth.
“Her 162 is up from last year, and it also represents the same rating given to Epatante, who was less impressive but did beat a field of 17 back in 2020. It’s also the same as Annie Power directly after the Champion Hurdle, which she then improved upon at Aintree. Lossiemouth is still behind the likes of Honeysuckle. She only had one defeat last year, which was on heavy ground at the Dublin Racing Festival. If you look at her walking around, she’s very, very correct. She walks like she’s been to finishing school. She’s built really for better ground, and heavy ground seems to have hindered her in the past, and that explains perhaps why Brighterdaysahead was able to beat her at Leopardstown, but not get near her at Cheltenham.
Mares’ Hurdle switch?
“Brighterdaysahead is net second in the [two-mile] list with her 7lb allowance. The way she won over two and a half at Aintree, you would wonder whether they’re going to carry on keeping Lossiemouth honest, or whether the siren call of the Mares’ Hurdle might tempt them next year. She’s a worthy adversary in a year where the two-mile hurdlers really were not the strongest bunch you’ll ever see.”
Michael Harris, BHA handicapping team leader for hurdling, added: “The best British performance over hurdles was from Sir Gino in the Christmas Hurdle. He’s unfortunately no longer with us and many would have felt he could improve beyond 161, quite substantially.”
Weedon indicated there wasn’t one standout staying hurdler in the longer-distance division for 2025/’26, but he still thoroughly enjoyed assessing what some old favourites served up. “These staying hurdlers gave us great value last season, didn’t they?” he said.
“Home By The Lee won at Cheltenham and Aintree, Teahupoo won the Hatton’s Grace and at Leopardstown over Christmas, Bob Olinger won at Punchestown, and Ballyburn spent the whole year being unlucky, getting beaten by all of them. There’s something of the Rocky movies about these, the same cast of characters that just keep coming back; Ballyburn set for his redemption arc next year.
“The reason Teahupoo is top of the list is he’s the only one that won the race impressively, that being at Leopardstown over Christmas when he won by seven lengths. On that basis, he comes out at 162 top of the pile.”
THERE appeared to be universal acceptance between the British and Irish handicappers that the novice hurdlers of 2025/’26 were not a vintage bunch.
The balance of power was definitely in Britain for the season, landing three of the four novice hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival and dominating the Classification.
It was touched on by some in the aftermath of the Cotswolds meeting that the British-trained novice hurdlers are now rated lower than would have been the case a handful of years earlier, when there was a strong case to be made for inflated ratings on the British side.
For example, at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, 10 of the 24 British runners in the novice hurdles were rated 140 or higher (42%). Pre-Cheltenham, only three of the 29 domestic representatives in the same races this year broke the 140 mark (10%).
Some have queried whether there has been an overcorrection, that some of those UK novices are rated too lowly now (nine out of 12 handicaps at Cheltenham were won by the British). However, the BHA handicapping team insists the balance is right.
When asked about his level of satisfaction surrounding where the British novices are rated at present, BHA handicapping team leader for hurdling Michael Harris said: “There’s only one Irish-trained novice hurdler in the Classification this year, and I think that reflects because they look a below-par set of novice hurdlers. I don’t think it’s because they’ve been highly rated in the past, it’s more on this year’s crop.
“I’m happy that we’ve set the level of what we think is appropriate for what the form is showing at the moment.”
Speaking about the division more widely, he added: “It’s probably a below-par year for the novice hurdlers. There’s only five horses, British and Irish, in the classification [meaning they have reached a mark of 150].
“That’s down from 11 last year. I suppose, pleasingly from a British standpoint, four of those horses are trained in Britain, so quite a turnaround. It gives you a bit of optimism going forward.
“On 155, Old Park Star is the champion. For a bit of historical context with that, Kopek Des Bordes was 158 last year and he’s a step below other Henderson-trained winners like Constitution Hill, Altior and Shishkin.
“Sober Glory, who was second in the Supreme, went to Aintree and didn’t uphold the form there, but I wouldn’t hold that against him.”
Festival form
King Rasko Grey was the sole Irish-trained novice hurdler to make the breakthrough into the Classification on 151, though another Punchestown Festival winner also figured.
“The only staying novice hurdler in the Classification is Harry Derham’s Le Frimeur, who won at Punchestown,” said Harris.
“He just creeps in at 150 and is the first British champion in that division since we started dividing them into three categories in 2018.
“The bias definitely went towards the better novices being trained in Britain this season, though overall the level is down across the board.”
KOPEK Des Bordes, despite winning just a Navan beginners’ chase from three starts over fences, was crowned the top-rated novice chaser of the season by the handicappers.
A rating of 161 had him 1lb ahead of Lulamba (160), the pair clear at the head of the two-mile standings. The ill-fated Gold Dancer, who died after his Grade 1 win at Aintree, and runaway Irish Grand National scorer Soldier In Milan shared the staying novice chasing honours on 159, while Kaid d’Authie and Romeo Coolio were evenly rated in the mid-range novice chasing bracket on 158.
Arkle heroine Kargese was tipped by the IHRB’s Shay Quinn to have a big 2026/’27 campaign after achieving a rating of 154 this term (her 7lb mares’ allowance would put her on a par with Kopek Des Bordes).
Quinn said: “Kopek Des Bordes probably remains one of the most exciting young jumpers in training; he has lots of class and looked a natural over fences on debut at Navan. He beat Lovely Hurling, who’s now rated 145, by 13 lengths. He had an interrupted campaign and went to the Arkle a little bit ring-rusty, I’d have said. He was very free early, over-jumped the first, hit the second and was still travelling well when knuckling on landing at the last. I think all those combined cost him the race. He just couldn’t get back at Kargese.
“He was unlucky at Punchestown when coming down at the second last. His ability is undeniable. He has a very high cruising speed and I think he has the ability to develop into a really good two-mile chaser next year, but he does have to improve. It is a good division. The likes of Altior and El Fabiolo were 170 at this stage [as novices].”
Milan view
On staying division leaders Gold Dancer and Soldier In Milan (both 159), he added: “They’re both decent novices without being exceptional. Lecky Watson was also 159 last year, so that tells you where we’re at. It’s still a long way off the likes of Coneygree, who was 172 back in 2015. Soldier In Milan has only had six lifetime starts and demolished a very strong field in the Irish National by 16 lengths. He improved quite a bit stepping up in trip on better ground, with a tongue-tie applied.
“He was obviously very well campaigned, with the Irish National clearly his primary target from an early age. He’s still only seven and, given his experience, you would expect him to step up into Grade 1 company next year, but I think it’s important to keep that performance in context as well. He won a National off a mark of 142. “
Joe Chambers weighs in on Susannah Ricci’s pair of outstanding champions for 2025/’26
“I thought it was an extraordinary season for Gaelic Warrior. You know, I think he’s really just beginning to fulfill his potential, with Willie being able to harness him to do so. It’s all well documented that he was a bit of a tearaway as a novice hurdler, and jumping to the right… Who knew putting a hood on him would cure that?
“He was a bit of a loose cannon in the John Durkan, but it just showed the reserves of stamina that he actually has. He just must be riddled with absolute ability. The range of Grade 1s that he’s been able to win is something too. There are plenty of sub-par graded races that we see every season, but I think an awful lot of his form has stood the test of time.
“His performance in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham was pretty flawless. It was obvious from an early stage that Paul [Townend] was very happy. There’s that shot of Paul taking the goggles off coming down the hill just after three out, and you knew the job would be done from there without any bad luck.
“Punchestown was cool in terms of the crowd, the reception. Maybe Fact To File didn’t run his race that day, but, at the same time, I think they went to good gallop and he left him from the home bend.
“It’s going to be pretty hard to replicate last season, but we still haven’t won a King George, so we need to go back and try to right that wrong. We’d like to go back there. Maybe we also know an awful lot more about the horse now as well. I think Paul knows him better, particularly over this trip.
“There’s a huge trust there between them, I think, since the King George and into Cheltenham and Punchestown.
Rare territory
“As with all of the horses, let’s hope we can keep them sound, because we’ve had highly-rated chasers before, in the likes of Douvan and Vautour, but we never quite got to see what they might do at the peak in our powers through injuries.
“I still don’t think we’ve got to the bottom of Lossiemouth. I still think there’s more in her. All in all, I think Lossie is on a par with Annie, and I think there’s probably more to come from her, if we’re able to get opposition that can drive her onto that performance. You can only give a horse a rating based on what they’re beating as well, and I think the same with Gaelic Warrior.
“This is going to be a fairly punchy statement, but I’d like to think that, under the right set of circumstances, both of them can give the handicappers cause to increase their rating.”
Marcus Weedon,
IHRB National Hunt handicapper
“I thought Hello Neighbour improved to win a listed handicap hurdle on his first attempt at two and a half miles at Punchestown. He was running well through the winter when the Gavin Cromwell stable wasn’t in the best of form. In a two-and-a-half-mile division that doesn’t look extremely strong or deep, he might progress next season.”
Shay Quinn,
Senior IHRB National Hunt handicapper
“Overall, I do think the Irish novice hurdlers are weak and I wouldn’t be following those at the moment. I think our juvenile hurdlers are very strong, the likes of Narciso Has, Selma De Vary and Proactif, who could be an interesting one once going to handicaps. She mightn’t be too under the radar, but I really do like Kargese, who is such a gutsy mare. She had a very hard race at the Dublin Racing Festival against Romeo Coolio, but she still put in a career-best at Cheltenham. I think her proven festival form and her durability will mean she’ll do well in the open ranks next year in the senior mares’ division. I think she’ll be right up there with the likes of Dinoblue.”
Martin Greenwood, BHA handicapping
team leader (steeplechase)
“I’d like to put forward the Henry de Bromhead-trained Koktail Divin, who won the Manifesto at Aintree. He looks a good horse to my eye.”
Michael Harris,
BHA handicapping team leader (hurdles)
“I think Narciso Has looks the obvious one on the juvenile hurdle front from this season, albeit we didn’t get to see him again after the Dublin Racing Festival. Even if the Irish novice hurdlers looked a little weak, the juveniles look above average to me.”