Four Robcour horses to add to your Cheltenham Festival portfolio

We have a lot to digest after the Christmas period, as there was some excellent racing and some results that threw a few spanners in the works.

Robcour had several winners over the festive period, most of which are worth keeping on side for the rest of the season.

We’re going to take a look at four Robcour horses who won over Christmas and are well set to win more races over the course of the season.

These include a Grade 1 winner, who has to be now in contention for the top novice hurdles throughout the spring.

Skylight Hustle

Skylight Hustle was given a complimentary assessment by his trainer earlier on in the season so it’s not much of a surprise that he has developed into a smart horse.

He announced himself with a very impressive victory in maiden company at Fairyhouse in November, where he made all the running and breezed clear to score by 21 lengths.

There was more to come next time though, as he went up in grade to contest the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown. Talk The Talk’s last flight fall made it easier for him but he wasn’t obviously beaten and was comfortably clear of the eventual runner-up.

A return to Leopardstown for the Dublin Racing Festival could be on the cards next and if he wins there, the five-year-old will be all the rage for Cheltenham in March.

Lazare de Star

Also trained by Gordon Elliott, €190,000 purchase Lazare de Star finished second to a Willie Mullins horse on his debut under rules at Navan in December and managed to go one better in a maiden at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Progress seems likely and he’s one to watch.

The step up to an extended 2m4f clearly helped and he was prominent throughout, before taking the lead after the second-last. The son of Masked Marvel quickly kicked clear after that and a step up in grade will be on the agenda sooner rather than later.

Teahupoo

There isn’t much we don’t already know about Teahupoo but we don’t usually see him over Christmas.

Connections tend to go Hatton’s Grace then straight to Cheltenham but he ran in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown and duly obliged.

Ballyburn was expected to reverse the Hatton’s Grace form, after Teahupoo narrowly got the better of him over a shorter trip.

That didn’t prove to be the case, however, and Gordon Elliott’s gelding has firmly established himself as the horse to beat in the division.

Spinningayarn

Spinningayarn won a point-to-point at Ballyknock in March 2024 and was purchased privately off the back of that success.

He showed a good attitude to win a Navan bumper on his first start under rules last January and looked very smart when taking a Fairyhouse maiden hurdle on New Years’ Day.

The six-year-old made all the running and pulled clear of stablemate Reckless once Jack Kennedy pushed the button.

Clearly he stays well and will be going up in class shortly. Perhaps the Albert Bartlett could be a good long term option for this strong stayer.