National Hunt Junior Hurdle races explained

National Hunt Junior Hurdles made their entrance into the British programme book for the 2022/23 National Hunt season. These races are aimed at encouraging the more traditional National Hunt-bred horses to race against their own kind, eschewing bumpers and to race over obstacles, for which they were bred for. An incentive, should they not be a winner outside of these races, novice status is retained for the following season and the experience gained should assist later in the youngster’s career.

A wide range of trainers have used these races for which they have been intended, to gain valuable hurdling experience. Amongst them is Dan Skelton, who said of the new opportunity: “So far these races have been fairly supported. We have won one with Solomoon, who was quite impressive at Doncaster [second time out], and we have a few horses for these races next season. They will take a bit of time to bed in, but I can see the value in these races, and I hope that they can do the job that they set out to do.”

These should encourage all participants to think about how young horses are prepared for the future.

French horses have for years been a player when it comes to the British and Irish National Hunt scene. However, their emergence has strengthened over time and the adage of them not having as long a career as their British or Irish-bred counterparts has changed. So perhaps it is pertinent to look at how they prepare their youngstock in readiness for their own racing programme, which with the many exports then impacts upon the races in Britain.

When discussing a variety of topics on Nick Luck’s excellent Sunday morning programme in January 2019, Guillaume Macaire said: “You need deep foundations. My horses jump from October of their two-year-old year to establish muscle memory. In terms of schooling and experience, if they are not ready for Auteuil in March, then I let them have the spring grass, they grow and develop, and they debut later in the year, but they have the memory of how to jump from before.”

This is a sentiment that British National Hunt participants dealing with younger stock might wish to give some thought to.

Yorton Stud owner David Futter has long been an advocate for developing horses earlier than the traditional norm as preparation for its racing career – all horses offered at the Yorton Sale are schooled over obstacles in the lead up to the sale.

The aforementioned Solomoon was bred by Futter and is owned by Yorton Racing - Futter explained the process the son of Pether’s Moon had gone through before making it to the track.

“My view is to get them to race as three-year-olds you need to put long, steady work into them early on, lots of loose jumping, with lots of breaks in the field to build up their core and strength. It is how we are doing it at the moment, but the process is evolving all the time.

“With Solomoon, we broke him in as a late yearling and rode him away, before giving him a break. We brought him back in in February, put him on the walker and loose schooled. He then had a break, went out for a couple months on spring grass allowing him to grow. Brought back in for another couple months and went over to Dan [Skelton] as a late two-year-old just to take him away from home more than anything.

“He was then given a break, some more work and another break, before late May/early June we started on his prep prior to re-joining Dan.”

Providing these opportunities against their own kind will give a segment of the National Hunt population, who are ready for their racecourse debuts earlier, the ideal platform to make a start in their careers.

Educating young horses is nothing new to French breeders. Backing and then popping over a few poles is standard practice, and a common misconception is that British and Irish-breds would not be mature enough to handle such an education. Firstly, not all horses are the same – some will come to hand earlier whilst others will require more time.

One of the standout hurdling performers in recent times is the Black Sam Bellamy gelding Galop Marin, who made the Grand Prix d’Automne his own, winning it four times between 2018 and 2001, latterly at the age of nine. He made his debut in the September of his three-year-old season, as did the British-bred L’Ami Serge, who was third in Listed company on debut, before becoming a three-time Grade 1 winner when in the care of Nicky Henderson.

Others to make their debuts before they turned four include the Listed winner and Grade 2-placed Pollexfen, a son of Yeats, the Westerner gelding Chez Pedro, who went on to be black-type-placed in cross-country contests, and the British Graded performer Blue Fashion, a son of Scorpion.

The common connecting thread…all bar the latter were purchased as foals.