Horses to follow in 2025

As the clock ticks over into 2025, the racing calendar presents a host of exciting meetings to look ahead to.

Below we mark your card with horses to follow in the New Year, both on the Flat and over obstacles. Find our horses to follow in 2025 below.

Bet on Horse Racing at William Hill

Certified stars

We’ll start off with some of the more obvious bigger names. At the top of that list is possibly the most well-known, well-loved horse in training at the moment, Constitution Hill. Nicky Henderson’s star hurdler bounced back from a year-long absence in style at Kempton on Boxing Day, putting Lossiemouth firmly in her place, regaining his Champion Hurdle favouritism in the process.

Sir Gino was another who caught the eye for the Henderson yard, seeing off Ballyburn in convincing fashion in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton most recently. He has all the ability to be one of the great two-mile chasers and is already odds-on (10/11) for the Arkle at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. A mere four-year-old, Sir Gino could be one to follow for the next few years, never mind 2025.

On the Flat is where the Irish take over, as Aidan O’Brien’s star two-year-old, The Lion In Winter, is the early favourite to complete the 200- Guineas/Derby double. City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin both blew out in the Guineas before romping home in The Derby, so don’t discount O’Brien’s charge from landing Classic success if he doesn’t perform at the first time of asking next season.

Improvement on the cards

Now we take a look at horses showing signs that they could be future stars or are open to improvement. Two hurdlers that caught the eye over the festive period were Potters Charm and The New Lion. The Twiston-Davies and Skelton yards both seem to have star quality on their hands in these two and it could be an interesting clash to look out for come Festival season.

The Jukebox Man already has a Grade One victory for his name, but everything suggests that may not be the end of his success. The Harry Redknapp-owned, Ben Pauling-trained chaser was pipped at the post in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, but with the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase potentially in his sights this year, it’ll be interesting to see just how good he could be in the staying chasing division.

One Flat horse who caught the eye at times last season is Group One winner Inisherin. He peaked at Royal Ascot last year, winning the Commonwealth Cup, but followed that up with two underwhelming runs. A big, striding horse, he looks one to improve as four-year-old and could be a real star in what looks a weak sprint division.

Hidden gems

Everyone wants to unearth a gem, and we have tried our best to find horses who may not have come to the fore yet but could be set to make a real splash in 2025.

The first of those is Crest Of Fortune from the Anthony Honeyball yard. He started his career with an impressive Bumper win, beating the now 135 rated Dodger Long by three lengths. His switch to hurdles has since seen him pick up a win, as well as finishing second in a Class Two to the impressive Royal Infantry. Honeyball believes there to be “plenty of improvement to come with him”, and if that’s the case he could be one to keep an eye on in 2025.

With the start of the 2025 Flat season still many months away, finding a hidden gem this early on is tricky. However, Smoken is a horse who caught the eye at the back end of last season and could continue to improve in 2025. The Ralph Beckett-trained filly impressed when winning on debut at Nottingham, before taking the step up to listed class in her stride when winning the Montrose Stakes at Newmarket. A current 20/1 shot for the 2025 Oaks, she also holds an entry in next year’s Irish Oaks and if she continues to improve on her debut campaign, she could well be in the mix for the 2025 Classics.