Coral Challow Novices' Hurdle
Grade 1, Newbury
£60,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus,
2m 4f 118y, Class 1  
Monday 29th December 2025

Paul Nicholls is set to take a measured line with the thrilling No Drama This End, steering clear of Sandown on November 28 and instead charting a deliberate course here.

The towering five-year-old, who turned heads with a smooth, almost effortless display at Cheltenham earlier this month, now moves toward December 29 with the chance to join a roll of honour long graced by some of Ditcheat’s standout names.

Nicholls, a dominant force in the Coral-backed Challow with four wins in the last five renewals, explained the thinking with his customary clarity.

“He’s fine and it would have been easy to go to Sandown next week for the Winter Novices’ Hurdle if I wanted to, but then you’re close enough to the Challow and he doesn’t need the experience really. because he already seems like quite an experienced horse mentally, he’s very laid-back.

“It’s hard to do Sandown and Newbury, so the wise plan is to head straight to Newbury and that’s where he’s going. The ground wouldn’t worry him but you can’t do both. We always thought Challow for him and I like taking them to Newbury so that’s where we will go.”

There was also a note of clarification from Nicholls regarding comments made in the glow of No Drama This End’s commanding Grade Two debut at Prestbury Park, where the name of Denman naturally drew attention.

He added: “I wasn’t trying to compare him to Denman, what I meant was if we’re lucky and we’ve got one who might be Denman down the line, it might be him – I wasn’t comparing them in any way at all.

“He’s a lovely horse, but who knows. I won’t say he’s the next Denman, we’ve waited a long time to find one like him and if we’re lucky we might do.

“He’s made a nice start, he’s run three times, won twice and no one has ever given him a slap yet. To win a Grade Two first time out over hurdles, you are bound to be excited, but he still has a long way to go.”

In the measured tones of a man who has seen precocious promise before, Nicholls strikes the balance between excitement and restraint—yet the sense remains that No Drama This End could be something out of the ordinary.

The race moved firmly into view for the hugely promising Starzand after an authoritative winning start to his hurdling career. The five-year-old, who fetched £230,000 after a wide-margin victory in the pointing field, made an immediate impression for Philip Hobbs and Johnson White when coasting home in a Ffos Las bumper back in March.

Returning there for his first crack over hurdles, he looked every bit as assured, brushing aside a notably competitive field and signalling that loftier assignments may be calling sooner rather than later.

“I was very pleased with how he won at Ffos Las and he’s a very exciting prospect,” said White.

“The Challow would be his target and whether he runs again before that or goes straight to Newbury, I’m not sure yet.

“There’s options at Ascot and Newbury for him in the next two or three weeks. We haven’t done a lot with him since Ffos Las, but we will just keep seeing how he is and go from there.

“We think we have a ‘real one’ and it was definitely a strong division of that hurdle that he won – I think there will be a lot of winners come out of that race and we could have finished fourth or fifth and still be entitled to say we have a really nice horse. I’m just glad we didn’t and we won.”

Challow Novices' Hurdle
£60,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 4f 118y, Class 1
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