Lovely Hurling – 2nd in 3.35 Navan 28/02/2026
Lovely Hurling has finished second in all three runs over fences. The horses that beat him are top class like Kopek Des Bordes, Kargese & Jacob’s Ladder. Lovely Hurling caught many a judges eye with his strong finish over two miles at Navan at Grade 3 level.
The handicapper has given him a mark of 145 which is fair enough. The thing is that Lovely Hurling is crying out for two and a half miles or further. It will be interesting to find out if JP McManus decides to run him in a graded race or handicap at the Fairyhouse or Punchestown Festivals. A horse that travels and jumps well and ready to win.
Miami Magic – 1st in 3.00 Newbury 27/02/2026
Miami Magic handled the step up in distance to almost three miles fine. He is proving a better chaser than hurdler. He finished second in a Grade 2 hurdle at Kempton before running in a Grade 1 at the Aintree Festival last season. Ultimately, he fell a little short at Aintree finishing seventh to Honesty Policy.
Miami Magic has improved for each run over fences this season. He beat Regent’s Stroll at Cheltenham and then finished third to Sixmilebridge in the Scilly Isles chase at Sandown. The soft ground was not ideal at Sandown with Miami Magic bouncing back with a win up in distance at Newbury. This horse is a player over three miles on spring ground at the Aintree Festival.
Kiely’s Place – 1st in 12.49 Clonmel 26/02/2026
Kiely’s Place made it a winning start on his first run for Willie Mullins. He won an Irish point before moving yards from Eugene O’Sullivan to Willie Mullins. This horse won his maiden hurdle as he liked at Clonmel. As a pointer it made sense to race him over two and a half miles with stamina assured.
The placed runners brought decent form to this race yet were blown away by Kiely’s Place. A graded horse for sure on soft/heavy ground and should be interesting when sent novice chasing next season likely in new owners colours.
Califet En Vol – 1st in 4.05 Kempton 21/02/2026
Califet En Vol won on his fourth run over fences at Kempton. This win came off the back of three runs around Cheltenham where he ran well without winning. He jumped well and stayed the two and a half miles distance strongly. The handicapper has raised him five pounds to a mark of 141 which still looks good. I would like to see Califet En Vol bypass the Cheltenham Festival and target the three mile handicap chase on Grand national day at the Aintree Festival
Last season over hurdles, Califet En Vol won the Sidney Banks hurdle at Huntingdon. He had No Questions Asked and Jax Junior in second and third place that day. All three horses have done well over fences this season. Califet En Vol was tried in the Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree on his final run last season. He ran well considering he raced too freely and just got tired from the final hurdle to the finishing line. He is more settled over fences and should get the three miles on a flat course like Aintree.
Kawaboomga- 4th in 1.20 Gowran 14/02/2026
Kawaboomga made a pleasing return to action at Gowran in the Grade 2 Red Mills Trial Hurdle. Less we forget this horse showed huge potential as a novice hurdler last season before injury cut his season short. He finished two and a half lengths behind Kopek Des Bordes in a hot maiden hurdle at Leopardstown at their 2024 Christmas festival. On his second run in Ireland he won his maiden hurdle, beating William Munny at Fairyhouse.
Those maiden hurdles could not have worked out better with Kopek Des Bordes and William Munny finishing first and second respectively in the supreme novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Kawaboomga showed up well here before getting tired in a slowly run race on heavy ground. It will be interesting to see where Willie Mullins runs him next as this horse is full of untapped potential.
King of Answers – 1st in 3.00 Kelso 13/02/2026
King of Answers beat Bill Baxter easily showing improvement for the application of pieces. This was his fourth run over fences and qualifies him for the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival. The handicapper has raised him ten pounds to a mark of 140 which guarantees King of Answers a run in either the Ultima handicap chase or National Hunt chase at the festival. He didn’t handle the tight turns at Windsor having won three runs ago at Kelso over almost three miles on soft ground.
Lucinda Russell is joint trainer with Michael Scudamore. She trained Corach Rambler and Myretown to win the Ultima Chase in 2022, 2023 & 2025 respectively. They look to have another unexposed and improving novice chaser with a big chance of winning the Ultima Handicap Chase in 2026 if the ground is on the soft side.
Juby Ball – 1st in 2.40 Chepstow 13/02/2026
Evan Williams has a proper horse on his hands with Juby Ball. He’s built like a chaser and jumped well overall here, even if getting in tight to a couple of fences. Evan and his main owner the Ruckers have not over-raced this french bred seven year old. He won his first bumper then finished second to Sixmilebridge in his second bumper run. Last season, he won twice on soft ground over hurdles at Ffos Las and Chepstow. This season he won at Carlisle on his chasing debut over two miles on soft ground.
Juby Ball fell next time out when coming to win his race at the third last fence. A defeat giving ten pounds to Stencil at Chepstow over two miles was a decent effort and showed that Juby Bal needs further than two miles. It all came together here over just short of two and a half miles. Soft ground looks important to this horse who can progress to be a graded chaser in time. I would be looking more at next season rather than a handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2026.
Holloway Queen- 1st in 3.55 Newbury 07/02/2026
The best jumping performance at Newbury came from Holloway Queen in a Novice Handicap Chase. This mare destroyed the boys and made a mockery of her handicap mark of 124. It is clear that the daughter of Jukebox Jury relishes heavy ground. She was second in an Irish point-to-point on heavy ground at Monksgrange. Denis Murphy sold her for £180,000 to be trained by Nicky Henderson. She started well over hurdles winning twice before losing her form in the spring of 2025.
She warmed up this season with a run over hurdles before getting sent chasing. It didn’t go to plan on her first two runs over fences with an unseat and then fourth place on good ground. The weather gods were kind and on heavy ground at Newbury she showed her class and stamina to win well over just short of three miles. A ten pound hike in her rating to 134 is fair. The key looks to be winter ground so a wet spring would give her options in mares listed races or the like. Next season she will be a big player in the three mile or longer chases on soft or heavy ground.
Munsif – 3rd in 1.05 Naas 07/02/2026
Munsif is the one I took out of the four year old rated hurdle at Naas. To be fair, a case could be made for any of the five runners in this race. Highland Crystal who won should get a mark around 130 from the Irish Handicapper. That would leave Munsif who was beaten over eight lengths in receipt of seven pounds on an Irish mark around 115. That would be a lovely handicap mark to set Munsif up nicely for a tilt at the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Charles Byrnes ran Byker in this same race in 2023 (3rd place) who finished second at Cheltenham, beaten a neck by Jazzy Matty. Munsif was bought for 120,000 guineas in October. He reached a rating of 93 on the flat over middle distances in the UK. Always a keen sort on the flat, he again ran freely for the first half mile of this hurdle race at Naas. I like how he managed to finish off his race well on heavy ground. A sharper two miles and likely stronger pace on good to soft ground would suit Munsif well if turning up at the Cheltenham Festival.
Moonverrin – 1st in 4.27 Leopardstown 01/02/2026
Moonverrin was the best horse in this Grade 2 mares only bumper race. She deserved to win even though she tried her best to give the race away and needed some help from the runner-ups jockey! Moonverrin travelled so well up the finishing straight that Finian Maguire didn’t want to hold her back.
Finian mentioned afterwards that Martin Hassett had told him she pulls up the second she hits the front. No doubt the owners will receive big offers for Moonverrin who would be well fancied for the mares bumper at the Aintree Festival or even the champion bumper at Cheltenham.
Waterford Whispers – 3rd in 2.45 Leopardstown 01/02/2026
A slow jump over the second last fence cost Waterford Whispers position and the win. That mistake allowed the eventual winner, Backmeorsackme a dream run up his inside under Sean Bowen. Mark Walsh decided to come wide off the final bend in search of better ground I presume.
It didn’t pan out as he would have liked with Waterford Whispers getting stuck behind traffic before switching back to the middle of the course. He did really well to finish just over a length behind Backmeorsackme. Waterford Whispers finished second in the Martin Pipe handicap hurdle at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. He looks ready for a step up in distance to three miles or more and remains well handicapped over fences.
Eye Catchers February 2026
Free Horse Trackers
There are several good horse trackers available to Punters. These trackers can be used to receive alerts on the eye catchers listed above. Some are free while others require a subscription such as with the racing post.
Below are links to some of the better free Horse Trackers available to punters.