The New Lion rated best novice hurdler in Britain and Ireland - and BHA handicapper reveals how much extra is needed for Champion Hurdle

The New Lion was rated the best novice hurdler in Britain and Ireland in the end-of-season Anglo-Irish jumps classifications on Wednesday and “will need to improve by 8-10lb” to be in the Champion Hurdle mix according to a BHA handicapper.

Dan Skelton’s stable star was given a figure of 159 following his victory by three-quarters of a length over The Yellow Clay in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The form has already been franked by the third, Final Demand, who was rated 1lb lower in the classifications having gained a second Grade 1 win by 16 lengths on his next start at the Punchestown festival.

Supreme winner Kopek Des Bordes shared the same figure of 158 as Final Demand after finishing only fourth on his last run at Punchestown.

Skelton has not hidden his intent to go down the Champion Hurdle route with the JP McManus-owned The New Lion next season, and on the classification figures, the six-year-old has 3lb to find with Constitution Hill and 8lb with State Man on the strength of last season’s efforts.

The New Lion (near) makes his move at the last in the Turners Novices' HurdleCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He shared the same figure as Lossiemouth, who heads the Champion Hurdle betting with bet365 at 7-2, and Brighterdaysahead. The New Lion is 4-1 second favourite with the same firm and heads the market with other bookmakers.

Michael Harris, the hurdles handicapping team leader at the BHA, said: “The New Lion has a solid figure for a champion novice hurdler and it feels like there was a lot of depth to the division and his Cheltenham form. He’s going to have to improve by 8-10lb to be competitive in a Champion Hurdle, but interestingly he has the same novice figure as State Man did a few years ago.

“Constitution Hill’s presence has probably led to similar horses going over fences rather than going down the Champion Hurdle route recently but hopefully The New Lion can continue to progress as his first season out of novice company goes on.

“He won with a bit in hand at Cheltenham, having had to switch around and get up late on, and you would be disappointed if his rating goes backwards rather than forwards next season.”

Constitution Hill was rated 175 at the end of his Champion Hurdle-winning season in 2022-2023 but his classification figure was 158 after just one run in 2023-2024 and rose to 162 after an up-and-down last season.

The Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old landed the Christmas Hurdle and International Hurdle on his first two starts of the campaign but fell in the Champion Hurdle and Aintree Hurdle and did not run to form when a well-beaten fifth behind State Man at Punchestown this month.

Harris said: “His Christmas Hurdle win on the figures, beating Lossiemouth as he did, looked a real top-class performance but I don’t think she was up to form that day and Burdett Road provided a marker in third.

“In one sense it wasn’t very difficult to put a figure on Constitution Hill as he has been nowhere near his best most recently, but at the same time it was hard to predict how the races would have panned out that he fell in and his last run at Punchestown was too bad to be true.

“He doesn’t quite look the same horse as he was but how much below that is hard to know, and even if he is slightly below his best next season he might still be good enough to win all these races. There’s a lot more questions than answers with him after the spring though.”

Champion Hurdle (Cheltenham, March 10, 2026)
Unibet: 3 The New Lion, 7-2 Lossiemouth, 7 State Man, 10 Constitution Hill, 16 Anzadam, 20 Kopek Des Bordes, Lulamba, 25 bar.

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