The 'After Hours' Racehorse

So there's a racehorse with the name After Hours and he's running today (1:45pm Chepstow).

He's 6 years old and originated in Ireland and is now stabled in the UK with trainer Henry Oliver and is a jumps (National Hunt) horse (as opposed to a Flat horse).

Generally jumps horses run in the winter and flat horses in the summer (to remember think of the softer, wetter ground in the winter making for a better surface to be landing on and the hard dry ground in the summer better for the horses sprinting on the flat).

He's had two runs as a professional racehorse so far. One was in a bumper which he won. The second was in a novice hurdle - his first time over obstacles - in which he came 3rd.

Jumps horses generally start in a bumper. This is a race without obstacles, designed to provide horses with an introduction to the racecourse experience without the complications of obstacles to overcome.
They will then generally move to hurdles. These are small obstacles and easily kicked to the ground if a horse doesn't jump them right.
If a horse shows good jumping ability he/she will then move to chasing (aka steeple-chasing - so called because the earliest form used to race cross country from the steeple of one church to that of another). These Chase races involve higher, fixed obstacles known as fences or ditches.

So can he win today? He's running in a maiden hurdle. A maiden race is for horses who haven't won before - so a maiden hurdle race is for those who haven't won over hurdles. It's similar to his last race (novice hurdle) in that it's for beginners but this might be slightly easier.

He was after a bit of a break before his last run (he rested up for the summer while the flat racing was on). He won his bumper in April and ran his last race in October (three weeks ago). Some horses are easier to get fit after a break than others. Some need 'race fitness' (known as 'match fitness' in other sports). So there's the possibility that he might be fitter today

Ground conditions today might be more suitable for him than last time. The weather affects the ground and most horses have a preference one way or the other. Every race will have a ground description and today's is 'soft'. Last time he raced it was 'good'. What that means is that today's ground is a bit wetter than last time and there is a bit more give in it. If a horse has been taking a break all summer and reappears for the winter (like this fella) you can usually assume that he likes wetter/softer ground.

However there is also the possibility that he is still learning the game. He's had just one run over obstacles and many trainers are happy to give them plenty of experience before getting serious. After all they've grown up with horses and mind them every day. Although these horses love doing what they're doing, the trainers can tend to be more cautious than the horse itself would care to be. So we may not see the best of him yet.

There is also the possibility that he's not good enough of course. But horses who have won a bumper race generally tend to win a hurdles race somewhere along the way.

While he has his chance, some of the opposition today come from much bigger/more successful stables and will have cost a lot more.


Here's how some of the papers assess his chance today:

"Irish point winner who showed good attitude to fend off one with more experience in a bumper here on good ground and then beaten 13l into third on switch to hurdling at Worceter (2m4f; good); unless easy ground is the key to him (handled it well in his points) then may have to settle for more place money."

"Irish-point winner who made winning Rules debut in Chepstow bumper in April. Showed aptitude for hurdling (despite sweating up) on return at Worcester (20f) last month, and he's the type to improve."

(You may be wondering what the "point winner" is about. This indicated that he won a Point-to-Point race before he became a professional racehorse. Point-to-Pointing is an amateur/much smaller scale type of racing, like a nursery for the professional racing. Many jumps horses and even jumps jockeys will start out in Point-to-Pointing.)


It's a guessing game but the speculation is that while he's good there might be better opposition in today's race. He's around 12/1 currently for anyone who likes a flutter.

He runs at 1:45pm and you can listen to the race here (click the play button in the top right).
You can view the racecard here.
For the latest odds see here (pink means prices are increasing, blue means shortening).

Best of luck After Hours!