Handicap kings: Which trainers are well known for Cheltenham Festival handicap plots?

There is a lot of planning involved in preparing a horse to run at the Cheltenham Festival. Every single race is ferociously competitive, with every trainer, owner and jockey wanting to get on the board, and every pound can make a difference when it comes to the handicaps.

Some trainers plan as far as two seasons ahead when deciding to target handicaps at Cheltenham, and there are several names that are well known for plotting their way to victory. Here are some of the trainers to keep an eye on at the Festival.

Emmet Mullins

There aren’t many shrewder operators in the game than Emmet Mullins and it’s always worth taking note when the money starts to come for one of his runners. He pulled off a major handicap coup with The Shunter back in 2021 and that success put him on the map.

National Hunt Chase favourite Backmersackme is definitely one to consider, as there should be loads more to come from the Dublin Racing Festival winner. Connections will be absolutely delighted with a mark of 135, too.

JP McManus’ McLaurey is prominent in the betting for a couple of handicaps and we haven’t seen the best of him over fences yet. He won nicely at the Dublin Racing Festival over hurdles last term and if maintaining his market prominence, don’t rule him out.

Tony Martin

Irish trainer Tony Martin has a well-deserved reputation as a handicap plotter and although he has been less successful in recent years, it’s more than likely that the ammunition hasn’t been there, rather than him losing his touch.

His most recent Festival success was provided by Good Time Jonny in the 2023 Pertemps Final and he was prepared to absolute perfection. Claimer Liam McKenna took 5lb off and he pulled clear up the run-in to score by three-and-a-quarter lengths.

He has just two horses entered in handicaps this year, one of which is 25/1 Martin Pipe entry Zanndabad The son of Iffraaj was last seen winning a Class 2 novice hurdle at Newcastle in good style and looks like one to watch if lining up at Cheltenham.

Dan Skelton

Britain’s handicap king is undoubtedly Dan Skelton and he has built up a surely unassailable lead in the trainers’ championship this season. Day four’s County Hurdle is a race he has done particularly well in, having trained four of the last 10 winners.

Skelton’s most famous handicap plot was probably good old Langer Dan’s Coral Cup double in 2023 and 2024. Having won the race of 141 in 2023, he miraculously ended up running off the same mark the following year and the result was very similar.

The trainer is very keen on Kateira in the BetMGM Cup this season and the talented mare is set to run off a mark of, you guessed it, 141. Keep a close eye on this situation!

Useful novice hurdler Sinnatra looks like his biggest chance of winning the race this year and he won an average race by a very wide margin last time out. The switch to handicaps could facilitate a significant amount of improvement.

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