If you follow the jumps season closely, you’ll already know why Alan King horses to follow matter. This guide for the 2025/26 National Hunt season shows exactly what to expect. King has turned Barbury Castle into one of the most consistent dual-purpose yards in Britain. He now produces Royal Ascot winners and still keeps a strong winter team capable of landing big Saturday handicaps and graded races. His string might not be as deep as in the days of My Way De Solzen and Katchit. Even so, the quality remains — and ignoring King’s runners is rarely a profitable strategy.
For this list I’ve focused on proven form from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons and on official ratings. I’ve also looked closely at progression patterns. The key is identifying which horses can realistically compete in Class 1 and Class 2 company. That group includes established names like Edwardstone and Favour And Fortune.It also features improvers coming through handicaps, bumpers and novice races. They are the type who could take a clear step forward this season.
King also offered a very revealing stable tour ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. Some of the insights in this guide come from his comments. The rest comes from a detailed look at the form book, the ratings and the likely targets. And if you want to keep track of when the major races fall throughout the season, the National Hunt 2025/26 calendar is a useful reference.
Let’s get into the horses.
Alan King horses to follow for the 2025/26 National Hunt season
Before going into the individual profiles, it’s worth outlining why these names made the shortlist. If you want to explore other trainers and their most interesting prospects, you can check the full Horses to Follow category on Inside The Paddock.
They represent what I consider the most interesting Alan King horses to follow for the 2025/26 National Hunt season. The selection is based on form, ratings progression and realistic targets in Class 1 and Class 2 company. Some are proven performers with Grade 1 credentials. Others are improvers who could take a clear step forward under the right conditions. I’ve aimed to balance experience, upside and reliability — the three elements that matter most in a proper horses-to-follow guide.
Edwardstone – the veteran Grade 1 chaser with one last chapter
Edwardstone remains one of the most recognisable Alan King runners in training. Even at eleven, he still deserves a place on any serious list of Alan King horses to follow for the 2025/26 National Hunt season. Leaving him out would ignore a horse who has spent years competing — and winning — at the top of the two-mile chasing division.
The 2022 Arkle winner has mixed it with elite rivals such as Jonbon and Energumene. He has landed major prizes like the Tingle Creek and has consistently held his own in open Grade 1 company. His enforced break in early 2025, caused by an infection that ruled him out of Cheltenham for the first time in his career, naturally raised questions about what he still has to offer.
The answer, based on what the yard is saying, is: enough for one more run at the big days. King is planning to edge him up in trip to around 2m4f, targeting races like the Peterborough Chase and those valuable middle-distance graded contests that place more emphasis on tactical speed than all-out pace.
From a betting point of view, I’m not expecting reinvention — but I am expecting value. Off a mark in the high 150s, he doesn’t need to find anything new to be competitive in smaller-field Grade 2s or slightly softer Grade 1s. In the right race, with the right pace scenario, he can still make the frame and reward each-way support at fair prices.
If you want a broader look at his long-term form and historical ratings, the Racing Post profile provides a detailed external breakdown that pairs well with the analysis in this guide.
Favour And Fortune – a genuine Grade 1 prospect for the season
Favour And Fortune is one of the most obvious inclusions on any list of Alan King horses to follow for 2025/26. If you need a reminder of his raw ability, look at his win in the 2024 Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle. He travelled strongly, jumped fluently and found plenty late to land a competitive Grade 2 limited handicap at Ayr off a mark in the high 130s.
Since then he has been campaigned in strong company. He has run well in graded novice hurdles. He also looks like a horse crying out for 2m4f and a clear, uninterrupted campaign. King has already hinted that the long-term plan was to keep him over hurdles for 2024/25 before sending him chasing. That alone tells you plenty about their level of confidence. This isn’t just a handicapper with upside — this is a potential top-level novice chaser.
For the 2025/26 National Hunt season, he now moves to fences with a serious engine and a piece of classy handicap form. He also carries an official rating in the 130s that could look very lenient if he adapts quickly to the larger obstacles. I’ll be watching closely wherever he starts out in those early-season 2m4f novice chases on a galloping track. He already has the profile of a horse who could work his way into top Grade 2 company. If everything clicks, even a target like the Turners Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham wouldn’t be unrealistic.
The Doyen Chief – a rising staying chaser with Coral Gold Cup credentials
If you enjoy following proper staying handicap chasers, The Doyen Chief has to be on your radar for the 2025/26 season. He ended last year with back-to-back wins at Kempton and Warwick. That earned him a 10lb rise but, more importantly, showed that everything has finally clicked over fences. He’s also one of those Alan King runners who improves with racing. He finished the 2024/25 campaign looking like a horse with unfinished business.
King has been very open about the Coral Gold Cup being firmly under consideration. With his mark now in the high 130s, he sits in the sweet spot for the major 3m+ handicaps. He’s not flashy and he’s not a speed horse. But he’s tough, straightforward and stays particularly well. That is exactly the profile you want for the big autumn and winter staying chases.
Looking ahead, I can see him being very competitive in the Coral Gold Cup itself or something like the Classic Chase at Warwick, and he should still have enough in hand to be a factor in a spring marathon if connections choose that route. Any staying chase on softish ground with a solid gallop will put him on my shortlist. He’s one of the more reliable inclusions on this list of Alan King horses to follow.
If you want more context on how these big staying chases shape up through the season, you can always check my race analysis section, where I break down pace angles, trends and key handicaps week by week.
Grandeur D’Ame – a talented but tricky staying chaser with the right conditions
Grandeur D’Ame is one of those Alan King runners who divides opinion. He has his quirks, he certainly has his own ideas about the game, and he’s much happier going left-handed these days. He’s also had the odd mishap — including that fall at the last at Stratford in October when still travelling well off 138 — but the ability has always been there.
When things fall right, he’s a very capable staying handicap chaser. He won a competitive race at Chepstow in October 2024. He also ran respectably in deep contests like the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival. In those runs he repeatedly shaped as if three miles is a minimum, not a ceiling. He stays well and handles cut. He also doesn’t mind a proper test, as long as the race isn’t turned into a pure speed event.
For the 2025/26 National Hunt season, I’m treating him as a classic “target horse”. I won’t be backing him blindly. But give him a left-handed track, 2m6f–3m and a bit of ease in the ground, and he becomes very dangerous. In the right pace scenario he’s more than capable of winning a solid Class 2. King will likely place him carefully. Whenever the yard aim him at the Ultima, or one of the better handicaps at Cheltenham or Newbury, he’ll be firmly on my shortlist. He’s exactly the sort of profile that earns a spot on this list of Alan King horses to follow.
Helnwein – a sharp-travelling handicap hurdler with untapped potential
Helnwein is one of those Alan King runners who can drive punters mad. But if you dig beneath the surface, there’s far more upside than frustration. Yes, he’s had a winless campaign and a couple of short-priced disappointments. Even so, his overall profile marks him out as a proper big-field handicap hurdler with another step forward in him.
Running off an official mark around 129, he doesn’t scream top-class, yet he finished second in the Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock (May 2025) — a Class 1 Premier Handicap over 2m — and regularly makes shortlists for major early-season races like the Greatwood. That tells you his ceiling is higher than his rating suggests.
Looking ahead to the 2025/26 National Hunt season, he now has plenty of big-field experience. He travels strongly and sits in the ideal ratings band for the top 2m–2m½f Class 1 and Class 2 handicaps. King has also hinted more than once that chasing could be on the agenda. If he does go back over fences, he could be well treated relative to his hurdles form.
He’s not a horse I’ll follow blindly, but give him decent ground and a strong pace, and he’s exactly the type I want onside each-way. He often moves through his races like the winner, which is why he earns a place in this list of Alan King horses to follow.
Harbour Lake – a reliable staying handicap hurdler with unfinished business
Harbour Lake has been around long enough for most punters to form an opinion, but I still don’t think he gets the respect he deserves. He’s a classic staying handicap hurdler, the type who keeps turning up in competitive company and running his race. His 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns tell you exactly who he is: placed in a strong 3m Long Distance Handicap Hurdle at Haydock (May 2024) off 129, then winning another staying race at Haydock in 2025. He’s at his best on galloping tracks with a bit of ease in the ground.
Heading into the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, he was on a mark in the high 130s. He was also being talked about as a legitimate Pertemps Final contender after chasing home a good one at Market Rasen. King’s stable tour made it clear they’re targeting the big three-mile handicaps. That includes Betfair Chase day at Haydock and long-distance races at Newbury. They may even try a graded staying hurdle if conditions and opposition line up.
From my point of view, he’s a bread-and-butter inclusion on any list of Alan King horses to follow for the 2025/26 National Hunt season. You know his trip. You also know he wants soft-ish ground but not a bog. He can pick up good cheques in Class 2, and even in the odd Grade 3, when things drop right. In a division where many horses are regressing or switching to fences, his reliability is worth more than most punters realise.
Baron Noir – one of the most exciting young prospects at Barbury Castle
Baron Noir is very much the “future-facing” pick on this list, and for good reason. Alan King rarely talks up a horse early. So when he calls one of his nicest bumper horses in years, you pay attention. Baron Noir justified every bit of that praise. He won on debut at Plumpton and later finished third in a Listed bumper at Newbury. The spring ended with a strong victory in a competitive winners-of-one bumper at Punchestown — a race that had the depth of a championship-level contest.
Now he goes straight over hurdles, likely starting around two miles before stepping up in trip. The horse has size, scope and the kind of attitude that usually translates well to novice. company Importantly, he has already shown he can handle different tracks and ground conditions, and he finds off the bridle — he didn’t get a soft lead at Punchestown and still proved the strongest.
For the 2025/26 National Hunt season, he’s one of the clearest “potential climbers” in the yard. I can see him progressing quickly through novice hurdles and shaping as a possible graded novice contender by the second half of the campaign. Wherever he turns up first time out, I’ll be paying close attention — and he comfortably earns his place in this list of Alan King horses to follow. Longer term, he looks every inch a horse who could go chasing once he fills into his frame.
Baby Sage – a progressive mare ready to make her mark over fences
Baby Sage has flown slightly under the radar, but she’s shaped far better than her form figures might suggest. She won a mares’ handicap hurdle at Huntingdon in early 2024, then travelled noticeably well at Sandown later that spring before not quite seeing it out. Time and again she’s hinted that there’s more to come once everything aligns.
Her opening chase mark looks very workable, and the team at Barbury Castle have long believed she’d improve for fences. She’s a neat, economical jumper at home and has always moved like a mare who would appreciate more room at her obstacles. Alan King has already suggested she’s being primed as a mares’ handicap chaser for the 2025/26 National Hunt season, ideally around 2m4f–3m on galloping tracks.
She’s never going to be a headline horse. But she’s the type who can climb the ratings through the winter if she gets soft ground and a strong pace to aim at. I’ll be keeping her firmly onside in mares’ handicaps from November onwards. She fully deserves her spot on this list of Alan King horses to follow for the new season.
Es Perfecto – a lightly-raced 2m4f handicap chaser with genuine Festival credentials
Es Perfecto may be ten now, but he’s still relatively lightly raced over fences. That alone leaves plenty of upside. He produced a career-best performance in the 2m4f novices’ handicap chase at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. He finished strongly from off the pace and only just missed second in a race that was effectively a Grade 2 deep with future winners. That run confirmed he belongs at Festival level when conditions are right.
He returned this autumn in proper company and lined up in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham. He travelled notably well on soft ground before fading late and being pulled up — not the sign of a horse regressing, but one who simply didn’t quite see it out in attritional conditions off a mid-130s mark.
For the 2025/26 National Hunt season, his profile is very clear. He’s a 2m4f handicap chaser with proven Cheltenham form. He also fits perfectly into the big Saturday handicap scene. Races like the December Gold Cup and the valuable handicaps at Sandown or Kempton look ideal. Another crack at the Festival Plate also makes plenty of sense. He jumps soundly, travels like a proper handicapper and has a turn of foot when the race shape suits.
He won’t ever be one of the market leaders in these contests. That’s exactly why he stays on my list of Alan King horses to follow. He’s the type who can pop up at a price when conditions align
Believitanducan – an unexposed dual-purpose stayer with a big engine
Believitanducan brings something slightly different to this list. He’s already shown versatility: winning juvenile hurdles for the yard, having a go at a Grade 2 where he was simply outclassed, and running consistently on the Flat — including a strong second over almost two miles on the Kempton all-weather in April 2025. That blend of experience across both codes is often gold dust for a developing stayer.
Alan King has been very clear about him. He’s a proper stayer and the type who improves as he goes beyond two miles over hurdles. His Flat efforts in 2024/25 also back that up. He stays well and keeps finding. He also has the kind of rhythm that suits long-distance races on galloping tracks.
What I really like from a 2025/26 perspective is that he remains unexposed in both spheres, meaning the handicapper hasn’t fully worked him out yet. That’s exactly the kind of profile I want onside. He looks tailor-made for 2m4f+ handicap hurdles away from the limelight, and he’s equally dangerous in staying Flat races when they go hard up front and stamina becomes the key factor.
He’s more than just “one for the Tracker” — he’s the sort of dual-purpose staying type I want to be flexible with, keeping an eye on entries in long-distance handicaps where the market often underrates these crossover horses. For me, he absolutely earns his place among the Alan King horses to follow this season.
Final thoughts – why these Alan King horses to follow genuinely matter for 2025/26
Alan King may not arrive at Cheltenham with the firepower he once had. Even so, the horses he does send are usually spot-on, well placed and capable of landing proper prizes.
This shortlist of Alan King horses to follow for the 2025/26 National Hunt season covers everything you want from a betting and analysis perspective. It includes the proven Grade 1 quality of Edwardstone and the upward trajectory of Favour And Fortune. It also features the staying-chase depth of The Doyen Chief and Grandeur D’Ame.
Reliable handicappers like Helnwein, Harbour Lake and Es Perfecto are firmly in the mix too. And the younger types — Baron Noir, Baby Sage and Believitanducan — could all jump a level by the spring.
Like any proper “horses to follow” list, the point isn’t backing them blind. It’s all about understanding why each horse makes the list. The angle, the trip, the ground and the race type all matter. So does the moment when the market gives you a chance. With this group, I’m mainly thinking Class 1 and Class 2 handicaps and graded novice races. A few well-chosen mares’ and staying contests also fit the bill, as King traditionally excels in those spots.
If you want to adapt the list, go for it. Add Blues Singer, find your own dark horse from the stable tour, or swap in one that suits your punting style. But if these ten get a clean run at the season, I’d be surprised if we don’t collect from a few of them along the way.
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