The 2026 Pertemps Network Final doesn’t need much selling, but this year’s renewal looks the very definition of a deep, old‑fashioned Cheltenham handicap hurdle.
Run over three miles on the New Course at 4:40pm on Thursday, 12 March, it brings together a full field of 24 seasoned stayers and improvers, all shoehorned into a Premier Handicap where small margins tend to make big differences.
For punters, it is the classic Festival “earned your place here” race – you have to qualify just to get a run – but this year’s line‑up also throws up a few intriguing storylines behind the numbers.
What The Pertemps Final Is All About
This race is the culmination of a long‑running qualifying series over staying trips, staged at tracks across Britain, Ireland, and France through the winter, and any horse finishing in the first four in a qualifier books a ticket to Cheltenham.
It has been sponsored by Pertemps since 2002, having previously been known as the Coral Golden Hurdle Final, and is now officially framed as a Premier Handicap for horses aged five and up.
The New Course test is straightforward on paper with about three miles on a galloping, undulating track, but it tends to ride like a proper stamina examination, especially if the ground is on the easier side, as the going is currently described as good to soft.
Historically, favourites have had a mixed record, and double‑figure SP winners are common enough, which is worth remembering when you are eyeing up those bigger prices in the odds.
2026 Pertemps Runners & Odds
*Odds from Betfred correct at time of publishing
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supremely West | Harry Skelton | D Skelton | 4/1 |
| C’est Different | Dylan Johnston | S Thomas | 7/1 |
| Bold Endeavour | James Bowen | N J Henderson | 7/1 |
| Electric Mason | Freddie Gordon | C Gordon | 17/2 |
| Absolutely Doyen | H Cobden | P F Nicholls | 11/1 |
| Kikijo | Callum Pritchard | P Hobbs & J White | 14/1 |
| Letos | Danny Mullins | A Mullins | 16/1 |
| Champagne Chic | Lorcan Williams | J Scott | 16/1 |
| Minella Emperor | Mr M J O’Neill | E Mullins | 16/1 |
| Staffordshire Knot | Jack Kennedy | G Elliott | 18/1 |
| Ace Of Spades | Kielan Woods | D Skelton | 18/1 |
| Lavida Adiva | B S Hughes | Ruth Jefferson | 20/1 |
| Yeah Man | Conor Stone-Walsh | G P Cromwell | 20/1 |
| Melbourne Shamrock | Donagh Meyler | E Mullins | 20/1 |
| Classic King | Ben Jones | Miss E C Lavelle | 22/1 |
| Minella Sixo | Sam Ewing | G Elliott | 25/1 |
| Gowel Road | Toby McCain-Mitchell | N & W Twiston-Davies | 28/1 |
| Red Dirt Road | Jonjo O’Neill Jr. | J & A O’Neill | 28/1 |
| Duke Silver | Hugh Horgan | J P O’Brien | 28/1 |
| Ikarak | S Bowen | O Murphy | 33/1 |
| Onewaywest | Elliott England | B Pauling | 33/1 |
| Idem | P W Wadge | L Russell & M Scudamore | 50/1 |
| Ike Sport | C O’Farrell | N P Mulholland | 50/1 |
| Idy Wood | G Sheehan | Jamie Snowden | 80/1 |
Classy Types at the Top of the Betting
The top of the market for the 2026 Pertemps Network Final is exactly what you would expect for a three‑mile Premier Handicap at Cheltenham.
This isn’t a race where the layers tend to latch onto a short one, so the “favourites” are usually clustered in a tight band rather than one standout at the head of the market.
Supremely West is the sort of solid, uncomplicated improver punters like to row in with. He has been learning his trade steadily, and his handicap mark still gives him a little room to manoeuvre.
Absolutely Doyen is another who has been climbing the ladder quietly but efficiently, stacking up wins away from the full glare of the Festival spotlight.
The question now is whether that hot streak can translate to a white‑hot race where 20‑plus rivals are jostling for position, and every minor mistake is magnified. He has done little wrong so far, and it would not be a shock if he proved up to this higher grade.
Among the Irish, Melbourne Shamrock and Minella Emperor look the most likely to sit towards the front of the market. Both bring a mix of solid recent form and the sort of slightly unflashy profiles that can keep horses a touch underestimated.
If either gets a handy position and settles into a rhythm, they could easily justify relatively short prices on the day.
C’Est Different and Champagne Chic are two British-trained runners who might also be rubbing shoulders with the market principals by the off.
C’Est Different has done nothing but improve this season, jumping neatly and travelling well in his races, which is not a bad combination to bring into a compressed Festival handicap.
Champagne Chic, meanwhile, has been quietly assembling a staying profile that hints at a horse still heading in the right direction, and his uncomplicated style could prove handy if things turn a bit rough in midfield.
Irish Raiders and Dark Horses
It would barely feel like the Pertemps without a few Irish challengers lurking with intent, and 2026 is no exception.
Gordon Elliott’s Minella Sixo joins Staffordshire Knot in the line‑up and has the kind of in‑and‑out profile that can be slightly maddening until you remember that these big staying handicaps are often the long‑term target.
Joseph O’Brien’s Duke Silver, Emmet Mullins’s pair Melbourne Shamrock and Minella Emperor, and Gavin Cromwell’s Yeah Man all add depth to the raiding party, each bringing bits of placed form that could translate well to this test.
Mullins, in particular, has shown more than once that he can improve a horse for a marathon‑style Festival handicap, and Melbourne Shamrock, with a recent win to his name and a relatively light weight, fits the sort of profile that tends to get notebooked quickly.
It’s Anybody’s Game
As ever with the Pertemps Network Final, the sensible approach is to respect the class at the top, fear the improvers in the middle, and keep at least one eye on the Irish.
Between the battle‑hardened Staffordshire Knot, the progressive likes of Supremely West, Electric Mason, and C’Est Different, and the Irish contingent headed by Minella Sixo, Melbourne Shamrock, and Minella Emperor, this looks like a renewal where winning connections will have earned every yard.
By the time they line up at 4:40pm on Thursday, ticket queues will be long, coffee supplies will be short, and anyone still trying to “solve” this handicap might be better off picking the one whose name they are least embarrassed to shout up the run‑in.
However you play it – careful analysis, gut feel, or a stubborn loyalty to an old favourite – the 2026 Pertemps Network Hurdle should deliver what this race usually does: a lung‑busting finish, a few hard‑luck stories, and at least one horse heading back to the winner’s enclosure to a chorus of “we always liked that one for this.”
BETFRED
