Ginger Joe has picked out four horses he wants to keep a closer eye on this week.
Racing fans, Notable Entries returns this week with another carefully selected group of horses worth keeping firmly on your radar.
While last week delivered some standout performances, this latest edition turns the focus to a fresh set of intriguing profiles with bigger targets firmly in mind.
We have a potential Grand National contender beginning to shape his season, a point-to-point winner making his first start under Rules, a mare who could yet force her way into the Mares Chase conversation, and a horse I hold in particularly high regard as a serious Stayers’ Hurdle prospect.
As always, I break down each runner individually, assessing their chances for the week ahead while also looking a little further down the road at what they could develop into as the season unfolds.
Some are stepping stones, others could be statements of intent, but some are entries that merit close attention!
HOLLYGROVE CHA CHA - Jamie Snowden
(5yo m) Affinisea x Hollygrove Rumba
Form: 121P-3
Exeter, Thursday 18th December - Mares Novice Chase 2m4f
Really excited to see Hollygrove Cha Cha back over fences on Thursday at Exeter in the mares novice chase.
She was a Grade 2 winner over hurdles after winning the Jane Seymour at Sandown back in February, and she has made a really solid start to her chase career too. She lined up at Carlisle in the Colin Parker for her debut over fences, and she ran a huge race to finish third behind both Resplendent Grey and Handstands. She was less than three lengths behind the pair, and clearly took to fences very well, shaping as if she had improved plenty from her novice hurdle campaign.
This week she has one main rival in the name of Bluey, who will ensure this is a proper test, but if Hollygrove Cha Cha can get this job done well, then you would imagine she could then be on course for the Mares' Chase (currently 50/1) at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
This is a very likeable mare who is seemingly taking plenty of steps forward, and on her second chase start here this week, she should be really hard to beat.
CRYSTAL ISLAND - Nicky Henderson
(4yo g) Crystal Je T’aime
Form: 1-
Ascot, Friday 19th December - Maiden Hurdle
We have a rules debutant potentially lining up at Ascot on Friday in the name of Crystal Island.
This is a horse I have been looking forward to seeing over hurdles ever since he won his point-to-point at Rathcannon in April, and he has joined a really strong outfit at the Nicky Henderson yard. In his point, he travelled really strongly, from the back and made steady progress through the field as the race went on, and when he got to two out, he just drew clear easily and it was game over from there. His jumping was solid all the way up until the last, but by then the race was finished, and he was away and clear.
He came from Eamonn Doyle as a pointer, and he has produced plenty of smart horses with the likes of Mossy Fen Coolio and Kings Bucks, who was third recently in the Bartlett Trial, and Crystal Island could be the best of the lot.
His sire, Crystal Ocean is becoming very popular and with good reason too, and I suspect this could be another with plenty of ability.
He was sold for £205,000 and will run in the Tony Barney silks of Jango Baie. This looks like a stayer in the making, and could be one for the notebook.
Monopoly Sports
HONESTY POLICY - Gordon Elliott
(5yo g) Jukebox Jury x Molo
Form: 2111-2
Ascot, Saturday, 20th December - Long Walk Hurdle 3m
I am seriously excited to see Honesty Policy at Ascot this weekend, and he is the horse for me that looks like a seriously progressive type, and one that could make a serious impact in the staying hurdle division.
Last season, he started off by winning a point-to-point in October, but by April, he had become a Grade 1 winner with a seriously impressive win at Aintree in the Grade 1 Hurdle. He then went to Punchestown next, and finished less than a length behind the Albert Bartlett winner Jasmin De Vaux, and again, this was another improved performance, and just another example of his quick rise to Grade 1 company.
I have him backed for the Stayers Hurdle (currently 16/1) already and he is a horse that I feel can go right to the top this season, and if you consider that Jasmin De Vaux was near favourite for the Stayers Hurdle before his injury, then the correlating form with Honesty Policy suggests he should be shorter in the market too.
First off though, he must pass the test this weekend at Ascot, with another JP McManus horse Impose Toi looking to put his Stayers Hurdle credentials on the line too. This should be a really informative race with an eye to the future, and I am really hopeful that Honesty Policy can get it done this weekend.
IROKO - Greenall & Guerriero
(7yo g) Cokoriko x Boscraie
Form: F424-2
Ascot, Saturday, 20th December - Graduation Chase 2m5f
Operation Grand National is well underway for Iroko, who lines up this weekend in the Graduation Chase at Ascot off a mark of 151. It has been well documented that the 2026 Grand National is his primary target this season, and that does make it difficult to assess his intentions here. The key question is whether he turns up at Ascot as a fully committed trier, or whether connections are more focused on protecting his handicap mark ahead of the big day in April.
He finished a very creditable fourth in this year’s Grand National off a mark of 152, and you would imagine connections won’t want him heading into next year’s on anything much higher if he is to have a genuine winning chance.
He has already had one run this season, finishing second to The Jukebox Man at Haydock, and that was a strong effort when you consider he was unlikely to be anywhere near peak fitness on the day. Despite that, he showed plenty of ability and clearly hasn’t lost anything. In fact, the manner in which he ran so well behind The Jukebox Man while potentially being short of full fitness, does hint that Iroko may have improved again this season. The issue is that we may not see the very best of him until April. That makes him a tricky horse to weigh up this weekend, because a win here and a subsequent rise in the weights, would make the Grand National task significantly tougher, and that appears to be the overriding objective for the campaign.
