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In the first instalment of 'Dark Horses To Follow', Paul Ferguson, author of Jumpers To Follow and the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide, gives us horses from the yards of Rebecca Menzies, Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls, Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore, and Dan Skelton, who it could pay to follow during the 2025-2026 Jump season.

Al Qareem will not be the best horse lining up for what promises to be a particularly competitive Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup on Friday, but there would surely be no more popular winner of the £250,000 Group 2 among the Yorkshire crowd than Nick Bradley Racing’s died-in-the-wool front runner, who simply refuses to give up. 

There are few bigger fans than Rod Millman of Saturday’s £250,000 Weatherbys Super Sprint, in which Monday’s 23 confirmations include the Windsor Castle winner Havana Hurricane and the Lily Agnes winner Ali Shuffle, plus his own hope Anthelia.

Night Of Thunder is setting the pace in this year's British and Irish champion sire race, and he has two chances to extend his lead in the Listed Weatherbys Hamilton Pipalong Stakes for fillies and mares aged four and older over a mile at Pontefract on Tuesday.

William Haggas was responsible for training one of the best recent winners of the Weatherbys/British EBF Agnes Keyser Fillies' Stakes in the exceptionally gifted but ill-fated Sea Of Class, and he is triple-handed in this year’s race with Purple Rainbow, Anna Swan and Rhapsody.

All eyes will be on Aidan O’Brien’s exciting Australian recruit Storm Boy in Saturday’s Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, but connections of former high-class two-year-old Iberian will be among those hoping to spoil the party in what looks a competitive renewal of the Group 2.

Bluebloods and big-sellers feature among the seven fillies declared for this year's Listed Weatherbys ePassport Cheshire Oaks at Chester.

Aintree Eye-Catchers - Five Beaten Horses To Follow from Paul Ferguson

Our new celebratory video showcases the triumphs of past winners and emphasizing the crucial role the Champion Bumper has played in the careers of countless top-class racehorses.

The inaugural event of its kind was a huge success

Plenty of water has passed under the bridge since my last update with a brace of Grade 2s having taken place at the Dublin Racing Festival. In addition to this, Willie Mullins has introduced a clutch of exciting prospects in recent weeks and the entries for the Champion Bumper closed at lunchtime today, Tuesday 25th February.

WHILE THE TWO-DAY DUBLIN RACING FESTIVAL was a mixture of reaffirming champions – take a bow Galopin Des Champs (Timos) and State Man (Doctor Dino) – and celebrating rising stars, it was notable that 14 sires accounted for the 15 winners.