Happy New Year to all.

Well not quite the start we all wanted on the racing front. The weather Gods are playing hard and with snow, rain and frost being thrown at us we are struggling to get back ahead of the game.  Sitting here now on Tuesday morning the prognosis looks pretty bleak for the next week or so.

With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to give you four to follow for 2025.

Romeo Coolio – he won decisively at Leopardstown over Christmas. He was runner up in the Cheltenham champion Bumper last year and showed his aptitude for hurdles last time. He made a mistake at the last, however he still beat a well-fancied rival by 9 lengths and earned himself a prominent position in the Supreme Novices Hurdle betting for Cheltenham in March (it’s only 9 weeks away you know)

The New Lion – I have written plenty about him in this column and to be honest the last novice hurdler I got this excited about was Altior and we all know what he got up to. He fairly bolted up in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury, it was a strong field and he made the rest look like a bunch of donkeys on Minehead beach. He has subsequently been sold for an undisclosed sum to J P McManus, it would have been a lot of pennies and he stays in training with Dan Skelton. He is very exciting and could be anything.

Sir Gino – I mentioned Altior previously and I could throw Sprinter Sacre, Shishkin and Simonsig in the melting pot as I believe this fella could be better than all of them. He made his chasing debut on Boxing Day at Kempton and was so impressive. The ‘rumour mill’ had been saying that this horse was a natural Chaser and so it proved to be with a breath-taking display. There were only 4 runners and what did he beat you may ask, well only Ballyburn (13 length winner of a Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival last year) by just over 7 lengths in a canter ! He is now 6 wins from 6 starts, only just turned 5 years old and could dominate the sport for a few years to come.

Hansard – he made his season debut at Kempton over Christmas and was 4th in the 2 mile Handicap Hurdle. It was a promising run, he looked a real threat early in the straight before running out of steam and looks as though he will improve for the outing. He is ideal for the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on the 8th February. He has already won over course and distance and is in the very shrewd hands of Gary & Josh Moore so well worth an investment.

So, there you go, I would be amazed if all of those don’t hit the winners spot before the end of the season. On a more local front and for those of you reading this after Wednesday then Taunton race again on Saturday 18thJanuary, their only weekend fixture of the season, check out the website www.tauntonracecourse.co.uk for the full details and some early bird offers.