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Equinties - green and gold
BGP Capital
February 04, 2026
Gm, Equinauts
Now the dust has settled after the DRF and it’s preceding Christmas action, one really has to just sit and take stock of the army JP has built himself this year.
Is it his best team ever? Has to be, surely!?
Let’s dive in.
HEADLINE ROUNDUP
OLDSCHOOL REMATCH
JP McManus is having a great time of things at the moment. Just look at this team:
THE NEW LION by default is fave for the Champion Hurdle, NARCISO HAS in the Triumph, FACT TO FILE has a great hand in race options, MAJBOROUGH is the new fave for the Queen Mum, KAID D’AUTHIE now has a chance in the Browns, as does MIGHTY PARK in the Turners, and even old boy JONBON could give it a fair nudge in the Ryanair. And that’s not to mention all the other big staying chasers and handicappers he has.
We imagine many of those horses feature in many punters ante-post slips.
And now, his new horse OLDSCHOOL OUTLAW could well give BAMBINO FEVER a big challenge in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
JP reached into his pocket to buy the WALK IN THE PARK six-year-old after she beat BAMBINO FEVER at Naas in December, and her first race for JP saw her comfortably put PLACE DE LA NATION away in the Grade 3 Solerina at Fairyhouse yesterday. This was a nice performance, and it was one that made us think that BAMBINO FEVER is no certainty to reverse the form come March.
Yes, she is the Champion Bumper winner, and yes, she was having her first start of the season when OLDSCHOOL OUTLAW was having her second, but OLDSCHOOL OUTLAW was probably as visually impressive as BAMBINO FEVER was at Fairyhouse last month, and she did it on heavy ground yesterday. OLDSCHOOL OUTLAW is also improving, like BAMBINO FEVER, and she is a bigger price. There’s no reason to think she can’t maintain the form, and that’s why people are probably latching onto her.
Anyway, both horses have impressed so far this season, and to our eye, it’s probably between these two in the Mares’ Novice, unless MANGE TOUT or SELMA DE VARY are chanced against their elders, which would be fun.
ECHOING SILENCE has a nice pedigree and is unbeaten, to be fair, so she could be one to bridge the gap, but she’d need to do that by a good 5-7lbs.
WORD OF WARNING
A quick glance at this weekend’s entries would have you quite excited. LULAMBA is entered in both the Game Spirit at Newbury and Kingmaker at Warwick, JANGO BAIE is entered for the Denman, and MAMBONUMBERFIVE & STEEL ALLY could also go to Warwick.
Well, it’s worth looking at Nicky Henderson’s recent comments, as he is not keen on running either of his star chasers on really bad ground.
In this above interview, he was very nervy about the amount of rain they’ve had since the last meeting as he doesn’t want to leave their runs behind on bad ground at Newbury, and as we all experienced across the country, yesterday was a bit of a washout.
Furthermore, Newbury is set to get more rain before Saturday, so one would have to think that LULAMBA and JANGO BAIE could be very unlikely to head to the Berkshire track.
This does leave the races open to the likes of HAITI COULEURS in the Denman (he will love the ground) and MASTER CHEWY/LIBBERTY HUNTER in the Game Spirit, so if you’re looking to play in these markets, it may be worth looking with the potential removal of LULAMBA/JANGO BAIE.
Could LULAMBA take up his engagement at Warwick? They are also set to get rain, and it’s soft already. One would guess at no, and Nicky Henderson would have to be very aware that MAMBONUMBERFIVE is no mug, if he goes, of course.
We could be set for a game of cat and mouse at declarations on Thursday. Who will blink first?
IRISH HANDICAPPING
And finally, the Irish handicapper has done some lovely amending from the DRF, and we’ve taken a quick look at some of the interesting news lines.
GRANGECLARE WEST was dropped a 1lb to 163. He was an eye-catching third in last year’s Grand National off that mark, so if the British handicapper is lenient, he could be of some interest this year. Since Aintree, he has also finished fourth in a Savills and fifth in a Bet365 Gold Cup.
I STARTED A JOKE scythed through the field in the 2m handicap hurdle to finish second to BOWENSONFIRE. The handicapper gave him just 4lbs; we’re sure Charlie Byrnes had a smile on his face yesterday when this was announced.
KIM ROQUE was given just 1lb for his run in the 2m5f handicap chase. He has yet to convince us yet, but that leniency could see him go close in a Jack Richards if he was to sneak into the bottom of the race. He did travel with some zest on Sunday, and he’s only six. Considering how ADDRAGOOLE finished his race in the 2m handicap chase, being left alone is kind, and JACOB’S LADDER (the winner) was backed like winning was out of the question. Should be up to winning more races.
And finally, on the topic of the Grand National, MONTY’S STAR ran a huge race in the Irish Gold Cup. The handicapper took 1lb off his rating to 157, and you’d imagine Aintree will be his target. He is on the shortlist for the National, for sure.
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