Kitzbuhel
While Final Demand is the horse that the ante post markets have taken out of Wednesday's Brown Advisory Chase, there are three others from the race who might be under-rated now with an eye on the future. The first is the winner Kitzbuhel, hiding in plain sight. He was very good in winning the race. He was quickly into a really nice racing rhythm on the front end for Harry Cobden, and he was still in front when he kicked off the home turn. His tendency to go to his right over his fences gave a chance to his pursuer Final Demand, whose rider Paul Townend obviously knew all about Kitzbuhel's tendency. The leader left a gap between himself and the rail as he jumped the last and set off up the run-in, and it looked like Final Demand would exploit that gap and catch him. The runner-up traded at 1.5 in-running. But Kitzbuhel dug deep, repelled his stable companion, and was actually going away again on the run to the line.
A talented hurdler last season, winner of the Grade 3 Red Mills Hurdle, Willie Mullins' horse has progressed as a novice chaser with each of his four runs this season. His jumping was superb at Kempton at Christmas in winning the Kauto Star Chase, after which many ear-marked him as a horse for next year's King George, back over the same course and distance, but he proved here that he could operate at Cheltenham as well. His proclivity to go to his right is not ideal at Cheltenham, but that proved no barrier to success here and, if he can get a little straighter as he gains experience, that could enable him progress again. He should be able to progress now anyway as a staying chaser, a six-year-old who has run just four times over fences. The general consensus is that others are ahead of him as potential Gold Cup horses for next season, but that consensus may be doing him a disservice, and he is definitely in the picture.
Cheltenham, 11th March 2026
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