A hugely competitive renewal of the William Hill Handicap Hurdle will take place at Newbury on Saturday 8th February. One of the most exciting two-mile handicap hurdles on the National Hunt calendar, this year’s contest may be devoid of a star performer, but it should be a cracking betting heat and our tipster Steve Chambers looks to point you in the right direction of the winner.
SECRET SQUIRREL
(Sean Bowen/Hughie Morrison)
Hughie Morrison’s Secret Squirrel was last seen storming to an impressive two-length victory at Windsor during the Winter Millions and the six-year-old will look to defy a 5lbs penalty and land victory in this contest. Very prominent in the betting, Morrison’s raider picked up in eye-catching fashion to claim that Windsor prize having been well-backed, and he looked open to more improvement and could prove to still be ahead of the handicapper.
JOYEUSE
(Nico De Boinville/Nicky Henderson)
Lightly-raced with only three runs over hurdles, Joyeuse will look to return to winning ways here and is one of those that has snuck in at the bottom of the handicap. A winner on her hurdling debut for Nicky Henderson, the six-year-old mare then tasted defeats at Ascot and at Cheltenham. Second on her last start, she will need to build on that effort to play a starring role here, but she is open to improvement, so has to be respected.
FAVOUR AND FORTUNE
(Tom Cannon/Alan King)
Alan King’s Favour And Fortune ended last season with a superb victory in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr and a repeat of that run would see him on the vicinity here. He was last seen finishing down the field in a competitive Ascot handicap hurdle which was won by one of Saturday’s rivals Fiercely Proud, but he’s bound to improve on that effort and off an eye-catching mark of 140 he has to be on the shortlist.
NAVAJO INDY
(Gavin Sheehan/Tom Symonds)
A three race winning streak has since Navajo Indy shoot up the ratings, but he was unable to build on those trio of wins at Wincanton, Bangor and Newbury when fourth behind Secret Squirrel at Windsor. The Tom Symonds-trained raider ran a decent race that day and he’s shown he can deliver the goods at Newbury, but he remains on the same mark of 128 here and will find it hard.
REST OF THE FIELD
Fiercely Proud was an excellent winner of the aforementioned Ascot contest last time out, but Ben Pauling’s charge has been given a whopping 9lbs rise for that success, so he’s going to find it tough to emulate that display. Behind Fiercely Proud that day in fifth place was Our Champ, who lines up for Chris Gordon here. Dropped 1lb by the handicapper, the seven-year-old is one that can excel in these sort of races and is capable of reversing the form.
Nicky Henderson’s Iberico Lord won this contest 12 months ago off a mark of 134, but he’s now 10lbs higher, and having flopped over fences this season he put in a disappointing display on his return to hurdling last time out, so is best watched. Harry Derham’s Washington was a winner at Fairyhouse last time out and was a winner prior to that as well, and he will be bidding for a hat-trick here, but is 12lbs higher, while the likes of Beat The Bat and Mirabad add extra depth to the race.
VERDICT
A devilishly difficult punting assignment, the 2025 William Hill Handicap Hurdle could go the way of a shock winner and the value play is OUR CHAMP, who could build on an adequate run at Ascot last time out, and if the ground can dry up then he could well be capable of causing a shock. Secret Squirrel is a horse on the upgrade and is the one to chase him home, while Washington is another in excellent form and can secure third place.
2025 William Hill Hurdle Predicted 1-2-3
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