Paul Nolan's best chance of a Cheltenham winner this year

Paul Nolan is amongst the most respected of Irish trainers and has managed to bag Cheltenham Festival winners in the past with the likes of Dabiroun, Noble Prince and Mrs Milner.

Based at Enniscorthy in Co Wexford, Nolan possesses a small but select team of horses and with nearly three decades in the training ranks, he is well able to get the best from a smart horse when one arrives in his yard.

Can he bag his fourth Cheltenham Festival winner in 2025?

Pedigree in the Cotswolds

Nolan took out his training license in 1996 and is based at Toberona House on the outskirts of Enniscorthy, a couple of hours south of Dublin.

His breakthrough at the Cheltenham Festival came in 2005 when Nina Carberry steered Dabiroun home to win the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle for amateur jockeys.

Nolan had to wait six years for a second Cheltenham victory in 2011 when Noble Prince won the JLT Novices' Chase in the hands of AP McCoy on a St Patrick's Day to remember for the trainer.

The mare Mrs Milner won the Pertemps Final in 2021 under Bryan Cooper, and Nolan will be hoping he has a few contenders to go to war with in March.

Feet Of A Dancer — Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle

Current odds: 14/1

The Pertemps Final could be a source of joy again for Nolan this season as Feet Of A Dancer could bid for success in the three-miler. The Authorized mare has won four of her 11 starts over hurdles in Ireland and while yet to win beyond 2m4f, she was third in a Leopardstown qualifier for this race at Christmas off a mark of 130 and is unexposed at the trip.

Sandor Clegane — Coral Cup

Current odds: 25/1

Sandor Clegane was third in the Albert Bartlett as a novice hurdler in 2023 and fourth last year as Fact To File won the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase. Despite some good form, he failed to win as a novice over fences and has been back hurdling this season, twice running creditably in graded events at Leopardstown and Gowran Park since Christmas.

He still holds a Stayers' Hurdle entry but may struggle in that event and he could drop slightly in trip for the Coral Cup over a distance at which he has pleasing form figures.

An Peann Dearg — Johnny Henderson Grand Annual

Current odds: 14/1

Off the back of his Dublin Racing Festival win in the Listed Ryanair Handicap Chase off a mark of 122, An Peann Dearg holds multiple entries at Cheltenham, though the Grand Annual appears the race he'll be best suited to. He had plenty in hand at Leopardstown and appears to be an improving horse having won there at Christmas previously. The handicapper may make things tricky and he's got options in the Plate and the Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase over further.

Jasmin De Cotte - Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

Current odds: 25/1

One contender that might be flying under the radar for Nolan is Jasmin De Cotte, who holds an entry in the Kim Muir. He won a beginners' chase at Kilbeggan in May last year and stepped up to three miles for the first time at Leopardstown during their Christmas festival, finishing third behind Sequestered. The winner franked that form when second to Backtonormal at the Dublin Racing Festival in a €90,000 handicap and this lightly-raced six-year-old has time on his side.

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