Three trainers to keep on the radar for April…

No beating about the bush; I’d be hard pressed to find three things we learned from the weekend from the distinctly average National Hunt fair we racing fans had to endure!

So I’m not going to bother.

Instead I’m going to take a look forward and concentrate on a trio of trainers that should be worth keeping on the radar for the busy National Hunt month of April.

Those three trainers are Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson.

OK, see you all later I’m off down the pub!

…only kidding!

The power-trio of Mullins, Nicholls and Henderson do naturally fire in a hefty raft of winners during April, there are plenty of big pots on offer and they, quite rightly, want a slice of those pots.

But you don’t need me to tell you that and personally I’d rather look just a little outside the box.

So that’s what I’m going to do…

Three National Hunt trainers to keep on the radar for April…

*stats taken from the last six season, using the Proform Professional database to source info

Trainer #1: WARREN GREATREX

Team Greatrex have been making some serious strides over the past couple of season’s and their recent victory with COLE HARDEN in the World Hurdle is nothing more than their efforts deserve.

In recent season’s they have fired in some sturdy April stats…

18/75 | 24% S/R | -£13.10 BFLSP – Win & Place 38/75 | 51% S/R

That LSP figure isn’t ideal but the strike-rates are well worthy of our attention and give us plenty to work with.

To turn the negative LSP figure into a positive really doesn’t take much work and the following two angles warrant our respect…

Warren Greatrex April runners | Top two in the market

18/43 | 42% S/R | +£18.90 BFLSP – Win & place 28/43 | 65% S/R

When the money is down in April the Greatrex runners have been delivering at a steady rate.

Warren Greatrex April runners | Non-Handicap races

13/38 | 34% S/R | +£3.57 BFLSP – Win & place 24/38 | 63% S/R 

Strike-rates and LSP figures improve considerably when only looking at his Non-Handicap runners.

Warren Greatrex: The April Money-Shot!

The following mini-angle is the place the Greatrex squad really hit the mark during April…

Warren Greatrex April runners | Top two in the market | Non-Handicap races | Fields of 15 or less

13/23 | 57% S/R | +£18.57 BFLSP – Win & Place 19/23 | 83% S/R

Trainer #2: REBECCA CURTIS

Newport based Curtis is another that hits the mark with regularity during April and with her partnership with Paul Townend going from strength to strength there is every reason to believe her team will be amongst the winners again.

Her April stats from the past six season’s read…

27/118 | 23% S/R | -£8.41 BFLSP – Win & Place 51/118 | 43% S/R

Again there is a small loss on the overall figures but it doesn’t take much to turn that around, especially with those strong strike-rates to work with…

Rebecca Curtis April runners | Non-Handicaps only

21/69 | 30% S/R | +£12.89 BFLSP – Win & Place 34/69 | 49% S/R

Curtis has this section of her string bang in form during April and it’s well worth keeping an eye on them.

Rebecca Curtis April runners | Class 4 level and below

24/66 | 36% S/R | +£29.23 BFLSP – Win & place 37/66 | 56% S/R

Things really crank up a notch when we look at the lower levels and that 36% strike-rate is nothing if not impressive.

Rebecca Curtis: The April Money-Shot!

The following mini-angle is the place the Curtis squad really hit the mark during April…

Rebecca Curtis April runners | Class 4 level and below | 10/1 or less SP

24/55 | 44% S/R | +£40.13 BFLSP – Win & Place 34/55 | 62% S/R

Trainer #3: FERGAL O’BRIEN

O’Brien is another who has his string in fine fettle during April.

Here are his recent April figures…

16/81 | 20% S/R | +£53.90 BFLSP – Win & Place 27/81 | 33% S/R

O’Brien is only in his 4th full season of training but he is clearly a trainer on the up and in the past couple of years he has had his April runners bouncing and hitting the mark at a decent level.

Those overall stats can be improved with a couple of quick filters…

O’Brien April runners | Chase & Bumpers only

12/46 | 26% S/R | +£56.37 BFLSP – Win & Place 19/46 41% S/R

His hurdlers haven’t done quite as well in the month and at the minute the percentage call is to focus on his chase and bumper runners.

O’Brien April runners | Class 4 level and below

14/57 | 25% S/R | +£63.62 BFLSP – Win & Place 21/57 | 37% S/R

O’Brien is another who picks up plenty winners at the lower levels.

Fergal O’Brien: The April Money-Shot!

The following mini-angle is the place the O’Brien runners do serious damage during April…

Fergal O’Brien April runners | Class 4 level and below | Chase & Bumpers only | GB & IRE bred runners | Age 6+

8/16 | 50% S/R | +£55.94 BFLSP – Win & Place 10/16 | 63% S/R

The main players will win plenty of races during April but it certainly pays to keep a watchful eye on some of the supporting cast as well.

Don’t ignore them…

BDH is back!

Well getting warmed-up anyway!

NTF’s little sister made a small cameo appearance on Saturday as she delved deep into the Lincoln Handicap from Doncaster.

I won’t be making the full switch to BDH until the National Hunt game is properly winding down but I will have the odd post or two over there to keep her warmed-up and purring along in preparation for the summer game.

To make sure you don’t miss out on any BDH (or indeed NTF updates) then simply head along to the following page…

>>>https://www.narrowing-the-field.co.uk/join-the-ntf-free-service

…and drop your email address in the box.

There is currently a very interesting 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup Free guide available to you upon (free) sign-up.

Happy Punting

Ben (NTF)

With thanks to…