Five JP McManus Horses to Follow after Christmas Performances JP McManus is Ireland's biggest owner over jumps and he was represented by plenty of runners over Christmas. One of the most significant flops was Ryanair Chase winner Fact To File, who failed to fire in the King George. McManus did have several winners, however, so we've picked out five of his runners over the Christmas period who could be worth following in 2026. Narciso Has This horse arrived from France with big expectations, as trainer Willie Mullins gave him a glowing assessment in his stable tour back in October. It was a surprise that he failed to win on debut in Ireland but the Gordon Elliott horse who beat him is a useful filly. He left that run well behind him when contesting the Grade 2 Changing Times Brewery Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown on Boxing Day. Pulling clear in the closing stages, he scored by 11 lengths and will surely be a Triumph Hurdle candidate after that performance. County Final The Defender Novice Hurdle is one of the highlights of Limerick's Christmas Festival and the Grade 2 event was won by Gordon Elliott's Kazansky this year. County Final was just a head behind him in second and that was a much improved performance. Eric McNamara's gelding would be interesting in handicaps, especially if connections managed to qualify him for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham in March. Seeing the trip out well, he probably would have won with one extra stride. I Am Maximus We got a bit of a surprise result in the Savills Chase, with Affordale Fury coming out on top, but 2024 Grand National winner I Am Maximus ran a stormer to finish second, ahead of stablemate Galopin Des Champs. Another Grand National bid is probably on the cards for him and his most recent performance suggests the gelding has retained all of his ability. Ballybawn Belter Liz Doyle's Ballybawn Belter was winless in 10 starts over fences but produced a very smooth display to get off the mark impressively at Limerick over Christmas. Conyers Hill was in the process of running a big race but Doyle's seven-year-old had every chance before the former fell at the second-last. That was a career-best performance and the handicapper was fairly generous, electing to put him up just 6lb. There are several potential handicap chases which connections could target, alternatively the Dublin Racing Festival or Punchestown are worth considering too. Kaid d'Authie Kaid d'Authie got the better of the useful Koktail Divin in a 2m4f maiden hurdle at Leopardstown last season but things didn't quite go to plan at the Dublin Racing Festival or Cheltenham. Willie Mullins' gelding did return to winning ways at Punchestown next time, though. He has been running over fences this season and he was second behind stablemate and subsequent Grade 1 winner Kitzbuhel first time out. A step up in trip then beckoned and he scored impressively over 2m6f at Fairyhouse on New Years' Day. We're not sure how far the six-year-old can go at this point but he's clearly very promising and should be ready for a return to graded races sooner rather than later.
