This Navan race produced a 2025 Cheltenham Festival star and this year's winner looks well worth following

The week following the Cheltenham Festival can often feel like a bit of a comedown, and some of the field sizes were desperate, but things perked up thanks largely to the Ladbrokes Go North weekend, supported by the Racing Post, across Musselburgh, Kelso and Carlisle. 

Also of interest from a ratings perspective was the novice hurdle at Navan on Saturday, a race won in 2022 by this year’s Kim Muir winner Daily Present.

There was a lot to like about both the race and the Gordon Elliott-trained winner Cardcounter. He did largely have the run of the race from the front, but found plenty for pressure late on when needed to record a career-best Racing Post Rating of 134+.