Doddiethegreat

The career record reads three wins and eight places from 19 races, which works out to winning roughly 1 in every 6 races (16%). That is not a flashy number, but it understates what this horse is capable of on a big day. In March 2025, Doddiethegreat won the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham — one of the most competitive staying hurdle races of the Festival — which is a Class 1 win at the most prestigious jumping venue in the world. A year earlier, the horse had already shown it could handle top company by winning a Class 2 at Ascot in November 2023. This is a horse that turns up for the important occasions.

Jockey Brian Hughes described the Cheltenham win with real clarity: he was told to give the horse plenty of daylight rather than hunting the inside rail, trusted the instruction, got into a rhythm, and despite a mistake at the second last fence still had enough in hand to get the job done. That kind of race — messy in places, won through grit — says something about a horse's character. Nicky Henderson himself has said that while Doddiethegreat may not quite be a Grade 1 horse, on a good day you can never be entirely sure. His most regular partner, Nico de Boinville, has won 2 of their 8 races together — one win every four rides — which is a strong record at this level.

Henderson has been candid about the difficulty of placing this horse over hurdles, but the yard has still sent out 85 winners this season, so there is no shortage of expertise behind the operation. Doddiethegreat has not won in his last six races and last tasted victory 13 months ago. The form figures — finishing third twice and fourth and fifth in the others — suggest a horse still running honestly without quite firing at his peak. On normal ground he has won 2 from 6 races, giving him a 33% win rate in those conditions. If those conditions arrive on the right day at the right track, this horse has proven it can deliver when it truly matters.