Follow the hottest bumper run outside Cheltenham

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If you happen to be a postman, I doubt you spend a week off thinking about delivering letters. Similarly, I doubt baristas spend their holiday time making coffee.

I try to be the same, so after a week off spent walking my greyhound on the beach, visiting my daughter at university in Gloucester, watching Reading play football very badly and having a dentist unsuccessfully try to sort out a painful tooth, I've been busy catching up on everything I missed.

The Newbury bumper last Saturday was the first port of call as this race often works out well and no doubt there will be a whole stack of winners to come out of it again. In fact, it was probably the strongest race of its type outside the Cheltenham Festival this season.

Irish Goodbye and Lover Debois both travelled very sweetly and look certain to make up into high-class hurdlers next season. However, I am always drawn to the winner of any race and Lady Hope was incredibly impressive at the line on her debut.

Yes, she was getting lots of weight as a four-year-old filly, but she didn't get the smoothest passage through the race and the penny only seemed to drop late on. It appeared to me that she was only getting going at the line and there was surely stacks left in her locker.

Given she is by Enable's sire Nathaniel, it certainly wouldn't be a big surprise if Hughie Morrison had plans to run her on the Flat, but wherever Lady Hope goes next, she will be worth following.

Watch: Lady Hope wins the hottest bumper run outside Cheltenham
https://www.racingpost.com/results/36/newbury/2026-03-21/901717

The other horse for the tracker this week is nowhere near Lady Hope's level and is still a maiden after 14 starts, but Staff Sergeant Len made an eye-catching debut for Neil Mulholland in a 3m handicap hurdle at Newbury last Friday.

Staff Sergeant Len clearly doesn't do everything right given his record and he does hold his head a bit high, but this was his first try at 3m over hurdles and he hit the line hard.

He's only rated in the 90s so is never going to be any great shakes but, on what he showed last week, Staff Sergeant Len is well capable of winning when the stars align. There will be plenty opportunities for him on decent ground before the season is out.

Watch: Staff Sergeant Len hits the line hard
https://www.racingpost.com/results/36/newbury/2026-03-20/913458