Early days

No Drama This End was foaled on March 3rd 2020 and he???s a grey gelding, by popular National Hunt sire Walk In The Park, and out of the French mare La Segnora. She won five times during her racing career, including the Grade 1 Grand Prix D'Automne.

All three of his relatives managed to win races but none of them managed to compete at No Drama This End???s level. Ex-amateur jockey turned point-to-point trainer Will Biddick snapped him up from the Goffs Arkle sale for ???26,000 and that proved to be a bargain.

He ran in one point-to-point at Bradbury Rings in February 2024 and Biddick rode him to victory. It was a very impressive display and he powered clear to score by a wide margin. Paul Nicholls then purchased him for ??160,000 at the sales the following month.

Bumper success

Starting his career under rules in a bumper at Warwick, he went off the 10/3 second favourite and the Dan Skelton-trained Keops Des Bordes was very well fancied at 6/5.

Nicholls??? runner was far too good on the day and he showed a smart turn of foot to score by three-and-a-half lengths. Harry Cobden only had to nudge the then four-year-old and the response was immediate. Expectations were high off the back of that performance.

It???s no surprise that connections decided to run at Cheltenham next time, despite the fact that the step up to Grade 1 level was significant. He took a bump on the home turn and weakened after that but he was always going to be better over an obstacle.

Novice hurdle campaign

Paul Nicholls was clearly convinced about this horse because it???s not often that he???ll run a novice in a competitive Grade 2 on his first start over hurdles.

Champion Bumper runner-up Heads Up was the main opposition but No Drama This End managed to reverse the form comprehensively, winning by three lengths with loads in hand. That was a serious performance and it impressed all the right people.

A trip to Sandown for another Grade 2 was next on the agenda and it was another comfortable success, coming by a margin of five lengths. Harry Cobden was motionless on him in the closing stages, and the result never really looked in doubt.

He had to do it the hard way in the Challow Hurdle at Newbury last time out and he managed to win, despite having to make all the running and it turned into a bit of a sprint towards the finish, which probably wouldn???t have suited.

Currently the ante-post favourite for the Turners Novices??? Hurdle, it???s easy to see why all eyes will be on him if he lines up at Cheltenham in March. Challow winners don???t usually have the best of records at Cheltenham but this lad can buck the trend.

Symbols Explained

ts² Tongue Strap vs² Visor hd² Hood es² Eye Shield ec² Eye Cover cp² Cheekpiece bl² Blinkers tt² Tongue Tie bf Beaten Favourite on Last Run srMentioned in Stewards Report in Results bbvBroke Blood Vessel

The superscript number on headgear bl² indicates number of times worn. A plus bl⁺ indicates more than 10 times where as red background bl¹indicates first time.