2026 Cheltenham Festival Recap - Five eye-catchers to keep on-side
The Cheltenham Festival 2026 brought both excitement and disappointment, with many punters having hard-luck stories, particularly regarding race starts. Pourquoi Pas Papa, Imperial Saint, Bossman Jack, Jackie Hobbs, and Tellherthename have shown potential for future victories despite their challenges. Pourquoi Pas Papa might compete in Aintree's Grade One, while Imperial Saint aims for the Freebooter Handicap Chase. Bossman Jack could target the Top Novices' Hurdle, and Jackie Hobbs might excel in future Mares' Novices' Hurdles. Tellherthename shows promise for the Scottish Champion Hurdle.
- Cheltenham Festival 2026 showcased promising horses hindered by race start issues
- Pourquoi Pas Papa, Imperial Saint, and Bossman Jack among key contenders to watch
- Horses eyeing future races like Aintree's Grade One and the Scottish Champion Hurdle
- Pourquoi Pas Papa
- Imperial Saint
- Bossman Jack
- Jackie Hobbs
- Tellherthename
Cheltenham Eye-Catchers
The Cheltenham Festival has come and gone for another year, and there were plenty of hard-luck stories after four days of incredible action.
The starter bore the brunt of many disgruntled punters, and Cheltenham will have to conduct an inquest into how races are begun. Horses like Jordan's Cross were beaten after three strides, and he wasn't the only fancied runner to be inconvenienced at the start.
Jump Allen hit problem after problem before staying on to finish third in the Martin Pipe. Here are five other beaten horses who it could pay to keep onside on their next start after the Cheltenham Festival.
Pourquoi Pas Papa
The Might Celt got little luck in running as he attempted to challenge from the rear in the Fred Winter, and hit the line well back in sixth. For me, the bigger eye-catcher was POURQUOI PAS PAPA, who finished as well as anything to come home fourth.
Harry Cobden was desperate to hold his inside position throughout the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, and that maybe proved costly in the end. Just as he was beginning to wind Pourquoi Pas Papa up to challenge, Cobden was swamped by a handful of rivals on the sharp final turn and was forced to angle sharply right to find racing room.
Paul Nicholls' youngster jumped well and flew home once he found open air. Pourquoi Pas Papa holds some strong form this season and might be in with a chance if entered in the Grade One at Aintree. Nicholls may also have a handicap in mind for this strapping sort before he presumably tackles fences next season.
Imperial Saint
I might be biased, as I felt he was one of my best handicap bets of the meeting heading into Cheltenham, but IMPERIAL SAINT was the hard-luck story in the Ultima.
Callum Pritchard was keeping his mount in contention along the inside rail, despite looking in danger of getting outpaced. Imperial Saint was then almost brought down as Konfusion crashed to the ground at the sixth-last, leaving Pritchard's mount detached at the rear of the field.
To his credit, Imperial Saint kept plugging away and crossed the line full of running in eighth. Philip Hobbs and Johnson White have their eight-year-old entered in the Grand National, but the Freebooter Handicap Chase on the same day will surely be his target. I expect Imperial Saint will prove hard to beat in that Grade Three, given his previous form at the track.
Bossman Jack
“Bizarre” is the best word I could use to describe BOSSMAN JACK'S participation in the Turners Novices' Hurdle. Dan Skelton's star was an eye-catcher in the betting beforehand — having been punted into 13/2 overnight before drifting back out to 18/1 — and his effort in the race reflected those market fluctuations.
Harry Skelton's mount was caught widest of all after the trio of false starts. With a circuit to travel, Bossman Jack had only one rival behind him. Skelton went wide again coming down the hill, and Bossman Jack swooped into contention once he hit the rising ground. He then almost unseated his rider with a sloppy leap at the last, before regathering himself well to finish sixth.
I thought that was a performance full of promise in what was one of the messiest Grade Ones of the meeting. The Mersey Novices' Hurdle would seem like the obvious target, but I would seriously consider dropping Bossman Jack back down to two miles for the Top Novices' Hurdle — as the leading trio from the Supreme probably won't turn up there, and the two-mile novice division doesn't look particularly strong.
Jackie Hobbs
Hardly anything got involved in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle from off the pace. The one who stayed on best from the worst position was JACKIE HOBBS, who snatched a share of the place money with a late charge into fifth.
Paul O'Brien had to roust his mount along after the standing start, and Jackie Hobbs raced a little keenly as a result. Harry Derham's runner lost more ground when the field quickened coming down the hill, but met the rising ground strongly and surged home after the last to finish on the tail of the leading quartet.
I doubt we'll see Jackie Hobbs line up at Fairyhouse in the Grade One there on Easter weekend, but Derham is never afraid of sending one over to Ireland. A more realistic objective could be the Mares' Novices' Hurdle back at Cheltenham in April, where Jackie Hobbs is sure to be among the more fancied contenders.
Tellherthename
At no point did Tristan Durrell really try to put TELLHERTHENAME into the County Hurdle.
Durrell seemed happy to sit last and wide throughout the contest. Dan Skelton's recruit travelled strongly coming down the hill, only to find his path into contention blocked by a wall of rivals. Even crossing the line, Durrell was unmoved in the saddle as Tellherthename cantered home in 12th.
This lad wasn't the first Skelton horse to be taken wide at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, and none of them were allowed to show their best by those tactics. We've seen plenty of horses improve significantly after joining Skelton's yard over the last two seasons, and I fancy Tellherthename will land a big two-mile handicap hurdle off his current mark of 133. The Scottish Champion Hurdle could be his for the taking.
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