20 Horses To Follow for the 2026/27 Jumps Season (Part 1: 1-10)

Jon Vine

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Last updated: Tue 13 Oct 2026 15:42

Jon Vine 1 hour ago

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Part one of my 20 Horses To Follow for the 2026/27 National Hunt season
Kingston Queen will be a big player in the Mares' Novices' Chase division this term
Eloquencia, Fruit De Mer and Iroko also feature in our list

Jack Tudor riding Kingston Queen clear the last to win The Heckler & Koch - No Compromise Maiden Hurdle (GBB Race) (Div 2) at Chepstow. (Getty)

20 To Follow (Part 1)

Dance And Glance (Anthony Honeyball)
Dig Deep (Ben Pauling)
Eloquencia (James Owen)
Fairy Park (Joe Tizzard)
Fruit De Mer (Henry de Bromhead)
Gatineaux Park (Kim Bailey & Mat Nicholls)
Highlands Legacy (Jonjo & AJ O'Neill)
Iroko (Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero)
Kikijo (Philip Hobbs & Johnson White)
Kingston Queen (David Pipe)

Part one of my 20 Horses To Follow for the 2026/27 National Hunt season, covering horses one through ten.

Ahead of every new National Hunt campaign, I come up with a list of horses to follow, who will hopefully net punters a decent chunk of profit during the jumps season. Here's the first part of my 20 To Follow for the 2026/27 season.

20 Horses To Follow 2026/27 - Part 1

Dance And Glance (Anthony Honeyball)

Anthony Honeyball has got plenty of racing into DANCE AND GLANCE over the past couple of seasons. Two from four in novice hurdles, Honeyball's gelding went handicapping at the end of the 2025 season and went on to enjoy a productive campaign over the smaller obstacles last term.

Dance And Glance won a good race at Ascot in December before All In You reversed that form at Sandown. Honeyball's six-year-old bounced back from a difficult run in the Betfair Hurdle by winning a Class 2 at Haydock in April before returning to Merseyside to finish a very close third behind Moon Chime in the Swinton Hurdle.

Dance And Glance will go novice chasing this season, and I expect he'll be a big player in the early-season two-mile handicaps off his current mark of 127.

Dig Deep (Ben Pauling)

I don't think I've ever written a Horses To Follow article without including at least one Ben Pauling novice chaser. This year, I've gone for DIG DEEP, who claimed a deserved hurdles victory on his final start of 2025/26.

A close second to the classy Starzand on his hurdles debut at Ffos Las, Dig Deep was then runner-up to Sogna In Grande on his second outing at Warwick. Following a couple of tame performances in the winter, Pauling gave his novice a break, and Dig Deep responded by scoring nicely at Uttoxeter on Midlands Grand National day, where he swatted Kadastral away after the second-last to eventually win by six lengths.

This son of Poet's Word was second in an Irish point-to-point in March 2025, and I expect he'll prove much more effective over fences than he was over timber.

undefined — Fruit De Mer (second right) finishing second in the Albert Bartlett. (Getty)

Eloquencia (James Owen)

James Owen is one of the best dual-purpose trainers in the country, saddling winners at the sport's biggest meetings throughout the calendar. Much of Owen's success in the National Hunt sphere has come with juveniles, and ELOQUENCIA looks set to switch her attention to hurdles in the coming weeks and months.

Eloquencia made a winning handicap debut on the Flat at Ripon over the summer and ran very well at Newmarket in September. Harry Davies' mount was sent off at 40/1 for a Class 5 handicap but travelled well on the front end over a mile and only faded back to third as the speedier sorts took over late on.

Owned by the Gredley Family, this daughter of Sea The Stars could follow a similar path to stablemate Opec, who completed a hat-trick in the Listed Mares' Juvenile Hurdle at Newbury in November before running in Graded races during the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

Fairy Park (Joe Tizzard)

Joe Tizzard has been bubbling along nicely since taking over the licence on his own, and FAIRY PARK could be his flagship horse for the upcoming campaign.

An emphatic point-to-point winner in Ireland last April, Fairy Park was too keen when second to Princess Day on her rules debut in a bumper at Newbury in February. Despite her inexperience, Tizzard threw Fairy Park into the Grade Two bumper at Aintree, where Brendan Powell's mount was restrained early on but finished her race very well to place third behind Nan's Choice and Lennon Grove.

This daughter of Walk In The Park is built for jumping, and I expect Tizzard to campaign his mare at the highest level when she returns to action. The Mares' Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival looks to be a realistic target.

Fruit De Mer (Henry de Bromhead)

The only Irish horse to feature on this list, FRUIT DE MER looks set to head down Henry de Bromhead's tried-and-tested route to the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase this term.

Third in the Ballymore Novice Hurdle at Naas in January, Fruit De Mer went one better when staying on into second behind Johnny's Jury in the Albert Bartlett. Fruit De Mer was held up again in the corresponding Grade One at Punchestown, but that massive Cheltenham effort had clearly left a mark on Darragh O'Keeffe's mount, who could only finish a distant fourth as Le Frimeur claimed a famous win for Harry Derham.

Fruit De Mer looked an outstanding prospect when winning his point-to-point by 16 lengths, and he's bred to be much more effective over the larger obstacles. De Bromhead won't overface this talented six-year-old during the early months of the season, but I expect he'll head into Cheltenham in tip-top form, with the Browns undoubtedly his objective.

Gatineaux Park (Kim Bailey & Mat Nicholls)

White Noise's triumph in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle capped an excellent first full season for the Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls training partnership. The pair look to have some excellent prospects going into the new season, including the Walk In The Park gelding GATINEAUX PARK.

This winning point-to-pointer claimed a narrow victory on his second hurdles outing at Lingfield before a fine effort behind the progressive Hold The Serve at Wincanton in December. Gatineaux Park wasn't seen again until another novice hurdle at Ayr in March, where Ciaran Gethings' mount made all to beat some inferior rivals by an easy 13 lengths.

Gatineaux Park looks every inch a staying chaser, so it was impressive to see what he achieved over hurdles last term. I expect he'll leave this mark of 130 well behind once he goes novice chasing in the winter.

Highlands Legacy (Jonjo & AJ O'Neill)

Chasing proved to be the making of HIGHLANDS LEGACY last season, and I fancy there's more to come from this seven-year-old during his second season over fences.

Jonjo and AJ O'Neill's star never finished outside the top two last term, winning at Worcester and Windsor. Highlands Legacy bumped into progressive sorts in Mambonumberfive and Mighty Bandit during the winter and was unlucky again to encounter the rampant Ryan's Rocket in the Red Rum Handicap at Aintree.

This strong traveller is perfectly suited to two miles, and there will be plenty of nice pots for him to target in handicap company this term. A productive first half of the season could even see Highlands Legacy step into Graded company come the spring, as the two-mile chase division – especially here in England – is pretty weak.

Iroko (Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero)

My favourite horse in training, IROKO has been trained with the Grand National firmly in mind for the last two seasons.

Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero's Cheltenham Festival winner finished a fairly close fourth behind Nick Rockett at Aintree in 2024. Last year, Iroko ran even better, flying home down the home straight to get within three lengths of the brilliant I Am Maximus.

Much to my delight, there has been talk during the summer that connections are going to let Iroko take his chance in open company this season, instead of putting all their eggs in the Grand National basket. I'd love to see Iroko take his chance in races like the Betfair Chase and the Cotswold Chase. A tilt at the Gold Cup isn't out of the question either if he proves himself to be one of the top staying chasers in Britain.

Kikijo (Philip Hobbs & Johnson White)

KIKIJO is an interesting horse for the upcoming season. Philip Hobbs and Johnson White decided to focus on hurdling last term, despite Kikijo winning and then going close in two chase starts at Newbury in the spring of 2025.

Sean Houlihan was in the saddle as Kikijo won nicely at Cheltenham on Paddy Power Gold Cup day last November. Hobbs and White's six-year-old then followed up with a hard-fought success at Sandown, where he relished soft ground conditions to land a competitive Pertemps Qualifier.

Kikijo wasn't competitive in the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham and didn't feature at all in another three-mile handicap at the Grand National Festival. When he returns to action this autumn, I expect the team to focus on chasing, as this strapping son of Estejo showed a lovely shape over his fences at Newbury two seasons back and Kikijo is rated much lower over the larger obstacles.

Kingston Queen (David Pipe)

I'm really looking forward to seeing what KINGSTON QUEEN will produce this term, especially as I hear the team are going to send her novice chasing.

David Pipe's mare was one of the best bumper horses around in 2024/25 and flattened future Grade Two winner Kripticjim as the pair made their hurdling debuts at Chepstow last November. Having bumped into Old Park Star at Cheltenham's December meeting, Kingston Queen struck in the rescheduled Jane Seymour Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Warwick in February, where she beat White Noise narrowly, having wandered around badly once she hit the front.

The ground was simply too quick for Kingston Queen when White Noise reversed that form in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, and front-running tactics didn't work at all in the Grade One at Fairyhouse. However, this robust grey should take very well to chasing, and she could be a match for anyone in the division once we get plenty of rain. A surprise tilt at the Mares' Chase could even be on the cards.