'Blew Her Rivals Away' - Five JP McManus Horses To Follow This Season The autumn period of the jumps season is arguably the most exciting, as we get to see some of the very best horses make their return to action. We’re already looking ahead to the Cheltenham Festival in March too and the possibilities are endless. JP McManus is one of the sport’s biggest owners and he’ll have another strong team to go to war with this season. With that in mind, we’ve picked out five of his horses to follow; one of which is more obvious, whilst the other four may have slipped under the radar. Aqua Force Trained by Willie Mullins, this mare absolutely blew her rivals away when winning a bumper at Gowran Park in February for previous connections. She hit the front with five furlongs to go and the race was over from that point. The official winning distance was a whopping 28 lengths. It’s no surprise that McManus got his chequebook out after that, especially as there was less than a month to go before the Festival. Making her debut for Mullins in the Champion Bumper, she was very disappointing, but it’s easy to forgive that effort. Mullins will know a lot more about her now and the six-year-old clearly has a big engine. Better will be expected now tackling hurdles this season and she looks like a potentially smart stayer in the mares’ division. Fact To File No one will be surprised to see this extremely talented gelding make the list. He was awesome as a novice chaser two seasons ago and his finest hour of the most recent campaign came in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham. Another year older now, he wasn’t deemed to be ready for the Gold Cup last season, but it could be a very different story this time around. McManus does already own the Gold Cup winner but Fact To File is an absolute monster on his day. Jeriko Du Reponet This horse looked like a proper Supreme contender as a novice, but he failed to fire at Cheltenham and took a while to get his career back on track. He managed to do so when upped to three miles however, finishing second in the Pertemps and winning at Punchestown, and is still yet to reach his peak. A return to fences could be on the cards this year and his trainer retains the faith that he can go all the way. His official rating of 149 suggests he should be competitive in the top novice chases, provided his jumping holds up. Joyeuse Another one for Nicky Henderson, this smart mare is half-sister to the yard’s Champion Hurdle winner Epatante and she made the fiercely competitive William Hill Hurdle at Newbury look anything but when winning it by eight lengths in February. She is set to embark on a chasing campaign this term and connections are therefore anticipating improvement over fences. Manlaga Juvenile hurdler Manlaga was purchased privately after winning a three-year-old fillies’ hurdle at Auteuil by three lengths and a couple of subsequent winners have come out of that race, including Olga De Kiev, who has won two Grade 3s since. Trainer Henderson is very confident that she’s a very talented filly and the daughter of Maxios could be one for the Triumph Hurdle in March.
