Paul Townend gives us his 10 horses to follow for the new jumps season
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It’s great to be back as Ladbrokes ambassador for the 2020-21 jumps season when I will again be providing regular previews of my weekend rides and at the big festivals.
The campaign has begun well and it has now reached the point where we will be bringing out the main performers.
While last season ended prematurely due to lockdown I can’t complain about riding five Festival winners including landing a second Gold Cup on Al Boum Photo.
This season will be about Al Boum Photo trying to become a three-time Gold Cup winner. He is only going to have a handful of runs but I am obviously looking forward to riding him again. He has done well through the summer. He will take the same route as last year.
Min also got his day in the sun at Cheltenham last season in the Ryanair Chase and he too will go down the same route at all the big meetings. But we are always looking for the next champion so that is why I have picked more of the novices than the seasoned horses for my list of ten horses to follow.”
Ferny Hollow/Appreciate It
These are the two horses that finished first and second in the Champion Bumper last season. They are two exciting horses to go novice hurdling with. I hope they can build on what they did last term.
Monkfish
He won the Albert Bartlett at the Festival. He’s a point-to-point winner too. I think he has matured a lot and grown into himself over the summer. I imagine he will be going over fences so hopefully he can have a good career at that.
The Big Getaway
He gave a good account of himself when finishing third in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle won by Envoi Allen. He looks to be an out-and-out chaser.
Energumene
A horse that didn’t really get a full season when it was cut short. He won his maiden in Gowran the weekend before Cheltenham. He is probably a lesser known member of our team but looks to have a big future.
Asterion Forlonge
He let himself down at Cheltenham by jumping mad right. Again he will probably go chasing. I hope we can get him to jump a bit straighter, but if not there are plenty of races going right-handed as well. He has a huge engine.
Saint Roi
He was the first of ours to pull out this season and he will improve a lot for the run in Tipperary, where he won a Grade 3 hurdle. I think he can make the step up to the top table.
Chacun Pour Soi
He was unlucky not to run at Cheltenham last season. I think he is the outstanding two mile chaser around at the minute. Hopefully he can live up to the expectations we have of him.
Burning Victory
She was a lucky winner at Cheltenham last season after Goshen fell at the last. She was doing all that despite being green and I hope there is a lot of improvement to come. She has only had two runs.
It was a big ask to go to the Triumph on the back of one run and so little experience of racing, so I think she will be a big force in all the mares’ races.
Deploy The Getaway
He has had a couple of niggly issues but I hope we can get a clear run with him this year as he is a horse we think a lot of at home. He had a big reputation in the point-to-point field.
