Jump Allen
There were other horses who could be marked up on the bare form of their respective performances in the Martin Pipe Hurdle, including Hot Fuss, who made up a lot of ground mid-race and did well to finish second, taking his Cheltenham Festival record to 42, and Karl Des Tourelles, who was fairly badly impeded at the turn at the top of the hill, and did well to keep on as well as he did to finish sixth. But perhaps the other horse with the most significant upside, as well as the winner, is Jump Allen. He won't have been missed by many, but he was caught in a pocket until it was too late, and he finished off his race really strongly to take third place. There wasn't a whole lot that rider Anna McGuinness could do, she gave him a patient ride, settled and in his racing rhythm back in the field, but she had a wall of horses in front of her when she wanted to go forward early in the home straight. Switched to her left towards the far side, she had to switch to her left again before they got to the final flight. It was only on the run-in that Jump Allen really saw daylight and, when he did, he finished off his race strongly to take third place. He would have been second in another couple of strides.
A progressive novice hurdler last season, Willie Mullins' horse rounded off his campaign by running out a good winner of a two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle at Sandown on the final day of the 2024/25 British National Hunt season last April off a mark of 128. He started off this season in an Up The Yard Challenge race under Natalia Kubacka at Punchestown last month, which he won nicely, in a good warm-up for Cheltenham. He should come forward again for his run in the Martin Pipe Hurdle, and there could be a good bit more to come from him now. He has the potential to go well beyond his new Irish mark of 135, and he will be of big interest in another good handicap hurdle.
Cheltenham, 13th March 2026
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