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Equinties - bright spark
BGP Capital
December 31, 2025
Gm Equinauts
We’re going to give away a big free bet tomorrow for the New Rear Day racing. Elon Musk has changed X so you now can’t see who likes posts, so we’re going to need to find the winner another way.
Here’s an easier way to do it. When we post the comp tomorrow, enter by replying to us by posting your Tote placepot for the 150k prize at Cheltenham. Easy.
Not familiar with the Tote? Use this link to open an account today and then tomorrow, simply find horses who’ll either win or place across the card and be in with a chance of landing a huge prize: Tote | Offers
Let’s dive in!
HEADLINE ROUDUP
ATZENI’S MATE
Tributes to Sheik Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum poured over social media this week, led by Atzeni who described his friend as ‘a big help to his career, who came along at the right time’.
A prominent Dubai royal and influential figure in thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, the Sheikh passed away unexpectedly on December 29, 2025, just days before the end of a highly successful year for his stable. As a leading owner-breeder, his distinctive yellow silks with black spots were carried to victory in some of the sport's most prestigious races, beginning with the 1998 Epsom Derby win by HIGH-RISE and extending to multiple Group 1 triumphs with POSTPONED (including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Juddmonte International), as well as recent stars like ROSALLION (Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes), INISHERIN, and the 2023 Melbourne Cup winner WITHOUT A FIGHT, whom he also bred.
His breeding legacy is perhaps most enduring through his mare ZOMARADAH, dam of the champion sire DUBAWI, while in 2024 and 2025 he ranked among Britain's top owners by prize money, with his horses securing numerous stakes wins and positioning him as a major force comparable to operations like Juddmonte and Shadwell.
His presence in the racing world should be sorely missed.
BRIGHT SPARK
Is it fair to think that there could be some value in the Champion Hurdle market, and could that value be BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD?
Let us explain.
This Christmas saw the Champion Hurdle market start to take shape thanks to the Christmas Hurdle in Kempton and December Hurdle in Leopardstown. One was won by SIR GINO, and another was one by LOSSIEMOUTH.
The market now reads 7/4 SIR GINO, 7/2 LOSSIEMOUTH, 5/1 THE NEW LION, 16/1 BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD, 16/1 GOLDEN ACE, 16/1 CONSTITUTION HILL, and 33/1 ANZADAM.
The front three, to us, seem in the correct places regarding their price. SIR GINO, for his first start back after nearly dying, was very good in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle. Did he beat much? Probably not.
We all knew coming into Christmas that he was a better horse than GOLDEN ACE, it was just a case of whether he was properly up for it or not. Considering Nicky Henderson had been targeting Christmas from a long way out, it turned out that he was spot on, and he won going away.
There can be no complaints about this run at all due to the time off prior to this effort and how much he could improve ahead of the Unibet Hurdle on Trials Day, which could be his next run. However, his market position does reflect this, so he doesn’t offer too much value.
Could LOSSIEMOUTH be the way to play the race? There’s one big issue with this, and that’s whether the Champion Hurdle will actually be her target or not. She can compete over two miles against the boys, but everything we see in interviews seems to suggest that connections have one eye on a third Mares’ Hurdle, and there was something about her finishing effort at Leopardstown that suggested she could just be put against her own sex come March. That being said, she does seem to be a different animal at Prestbury Park, and that would be one reason to go to the Champion Hurdle.
Then there’s THE NEW LION. He is very unexposed, and he showed plenty of positives in the Fighting Fifth, but he is set to take on SIR GINO on Trials Day, and that will be the toughest challenge he’s faced yet. If he’s beaten then, there would be limited reasons to suggest he could overturn the form, though potential race fitness could be one way to look at it, depending on how hard Dan Skelton will be on him before the race (we imagine he will leave some off him).
So, that leaves BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD. Her Cheltenham record of 0/2 is probably the reason she is such a big price now, but surely that price does look a few points too big. To our eye, she hasn’t been the soundest to get right at home at the start of this season, and that’s why they came hurdling.
This was also her first start of the season, and she is a mare that likes to come on for her first runs. Therefore, improvement can be expected. Considering this, she travelled nicely into the race behind LOSSIEMOUTH, and her jumping was back to its exquisite ways. She was very slick and so accurate, it was a joy to watch.
There’s an argument that she left her season behind last year by winning the December Hurdle so impressively, and that’s maybe why she wasn’t at her best come March, because that clearly wasn’t the real BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD. With race fitness on her side and potentially a winning run at the DRF in the Irish Champion Hurdle, is there a future where we get to the first week in March and look back to her current 16/1 price with annoyance that we didn’t take it? Quite possibly.
There is a possibility that she could go to the Mares’ Hurdle as this would be the third year connections are heading to the Cheltenham Festival with her, so they might want to give her a better chance at ending up in the winners’ enclosure. However, if they think she is a better two-miler, the Champion has to be her race.
Of course, this is all very early chat for a race occurring in March. That being said, SIR GINO sets the standard, LOSSIEMOUTH’s target is still undecided, and could BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD be the one that people are sleeping on?
DEVELOPING NICELY
Do you know what race gets hated on a lot at the Cheltenham Festival? The Mares’ Chase. Well, most mares’ races at the Festival get a bit of hate, but the mares’ chase specifically. It does deserve it to a degree, but it’s actually been quite a nice race to follow over the last few years.
DINOBLUE won an easy race last season (our Cheltenham NAP), but LIMERICK LACE’s year was a nice one, as was IMPERVIOUS’ year, and ELIMAY vs PINK LEGEND vs SCARLET AND DOVE was a great watch.
So, what about this year’s race? Well, it could be one to really look forward to.
DINOBLUE, a 3/1 shot to retain her title, is set to run at Fairyhouse, and she is long odds-on to win. So, she has a good chance to progress her season, but when she gets to Cheltenham in March, she will have some proper opposition. That starts with her stablemate, SPINDLEBERRY, who almost looks bombproof. She is five from five over fences, and she is a Grade 1 winner. She also seemed to win at Doncaster pretty easily two days ago, and who knows where her true ceiling is? She needed her seasonal reappearance, and yet she still won. That is pretty impressive.
Away from Closutton, KALA CONTI (a five-year-old) made KARGESE look average at Cork last time out, and KARGESE has franked the form with an easy beginners chase win subsequently. ONLY BY NIGHT could also bounce back to her previous self in lesser company, JULY FLOWER may head this way after being beaten in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase, THE BIG WESTERNER has this or the Browns as options, and even KARGESE herself could have something to say.
And then there are the Brits. DIVA LUNA has been very impressive on two starts so far this season, and Ben Pauling thinks she is good enough to take on the boys at Grade 1 level in the Scilly Isles. There’s also PANIC ATTACK, though she could be using the race as a springboard to the National.
All in all, that is a list of nine mares who could well line up in the Mares’ Chase in March, which is exciting. Yes, the presence of the race means that the Arkle and Browns may miss out on one or two mares in the race, but they have a much better chance of winning here, and yet it’s still going to be a race worth watching/punting on, which is the main thing.
We can’t wait for the race, even if SPINDLEBERRY has looked pretty faultless so far and could be hard to beat.
CHRISTMAS EYE-CATCHERS
As we promised yesterday, here are a few of our main eye-catchers from the Christmas period.
JASMINE BLISS – 12.45 KEMPTON, 26th
There was a lot to like about the front three home in Kempton’s opener on Boxing Day. They jumped nicely and went away from the last like nice animals. JASMINE BLISS is the one we want to put forward, as it was her first start of the season, and she is quite unexposed. For a chasing debut, she jumped them like an old hand, though she never looked like winning when BARLOVENTO loomed upsides. She will defiantly come on for the effort, and a mark of 125 looks lenient considering she could improve for a step up in trip. She also has some nice form over hurdles with LA PINSONNIERE (rated 130).
OLE OLE – 12.05 LEOPARDSTOWN, 27th
Gavin Cromwell’s yard seems to be under a bit of a cloud, and it has been all season, so horses that have run well this Christmas can have their runs upgraded. Case in point, OLE OLE’s second at Leopardstown on the 27th. He made a slick move around the outside of the field and kicked for home nicely under Keith Donoghue.
He looked to have the race won at the last, but Sam Ewing nabbed it late-on under HARDY STUFF, so he had to settle for second. That’s now OLE OLE’s third run over hurdles, so he is qualified for the Fred Winter, and this could be a race that Gavin Cromwell has his mind on. Eyes on.
PLEASINGTON – 13.15 NEWBURY, 29th
Olly Murphy has always thought loads of PLEASINGTON, and he showed plenty of promise on his seasonal reappearance at Wetherby in November. He disappointed when the yard fancied him at Aintree at the start of this month, but he caught the eye again at Newbury on Challow Day. They dropped him back in trip, and he was staying on at the line. There are defiantly races to be won with him with his current rating of 128 (which could change next week), but nailing down his best trip could be tricky.
Maybe they should try 2m4f again, as Aintree didn’t look like his true showing, and that could have just been an off day rather than it being the trip that caused issues.
RISK ON
One bet one loser yesterday, let’s end the year with a winner…if we can!
There are several on our shortlist, we’ll post to @equinties on X.
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