National Hunt 2023-24 preview: Emerging trainers and jockeys to follow

This season's National Hunt season got under way in earnest at the weekend with the two-day Cheltenham meeting.. Personally, I take a break from my own betting between Champions Day at Ascot for the Flat and the Charlie Hall Meeting at Wetherby and the Ascot meeting on Saturday 4^th November. 

This allows some form to settle and the stables that are firing to stand out, and it also gives a me couple of weeks respite to recharge my batteries, both mentally and physically.

With that in mind,I thought I would take the opportunity to highlight some emerging trainers and jockeys to keep an eye on throughout the forthcoming season.

Trainers

I would expect the trainers’ championship to be dominated by Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson, just as it has been for the last 18 years with them winning all the titles between them since 2005 Nicholls 14, Henderson 4). Dan Skelton will undoubtedly be snapping at their heels again, but it’s hard to see past the top two.

Perhaps slightly below the radar are the following two trainers:

• James Owen 

So far this season, Owen has had 18 wins from 75 runners (24%) and does especially well when Harry Cobden is booked, with 7 wins in 25 rides (28%). 

This is his first season under rules but he has a background in the point-to-point arena as a jockey, so knows his way around the jumping world. Owen has a small string currently, but I expect that to grow if he continues to produce a steady stream of winners.

• Ben Pauling 

Pauling has been training for several seasons now and has been consistent this season to sit on a win strike rate of 20%. However, I think a better area of focus is when he runs a horse in a chase and over the last five seasons, where he boasts a winning strike rate of 20% producing a profit of over 54 points. 

You can reduce the number of runners by focussing on courses where Ben does especially well with his runners, and this will increase profits further.

Jockeys

The jump season hardly stops these days, and has been running for a few months that have seen Sean Bowen emerge as the front runner in the jockeys’ championship with 92 wins in 385 starts at the time of writing. 

This puts Bowen 33 wins clear of current champ Brian Hughes with an impressive 24% winning strike rate. I am not putting Sean up as an emerging talent as he has been riding winners since becoming Champion Conditional Jockey in 2015 and is still only 27 years old. In my view he is riding better than anyone currently.

The two conditional jockeys I would like to put up as ones to keep an eye on, especially if they are riding a fancied horse are:

• Bradley Harris

 The son of trainer Milton Harris, Bradley has been riding well this season with 19 wins in only 90 rides, which is a 21% strike rate, but if you move that to rides on the favourite the win percentage climbs to 32%. 

This is made even more impressive as in all rides he is showing a profit this season of over 30 points. It is especially worthwhile backing Bradley when riding in National Hunt flat races where in the last five seasons he has a 35% strike rate.

• Liam Harrison 

Harrison is another promising jockey and has won 18 races from 71 races and that rises to an amazing 50 per cent when riding the race favourite. 

Liam has also managed to deliver a profit of over 18 point, and is equally adept over hurdles, fences and in National Hunt flat races, but worthwhile concentrating on rides on the market leader.

We have another exciting National Hunt season to look forward to and the Irish domination is likely to continue, especially at the Cheltenham Festival in March, which seems a long way away now, but will be upon us in no time.

READ MORE: Horse racing tips: 10 horses to follow during the National Hunt season