Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 2026: Can Doctor Steinberg Fend Off No Drama This End and Thedeviluno?

The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle has quickly become one of the Festival’s most demanding tests, and the 2026 renewal looks a typically deep, stamina‑sapping puzzle with 64 of the original 66 entries still standing their ground two weeks out.

Run over three miles on the New Course, the Albert Bartlett is officially registered as the Spa Novices’ Hurdle and takes place immediately before the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday 13 March 2026.

It routinely attracts the biggest field of the week among the novice hurdles, but only 22 can line up on the day, so connections now face the usual scramble to make the cut from the current entry list of 64.
​
The race’s character is well established. Winners are almost always battle‑hardened stayers rather than unexposed “projects”, and the roll of honour includes future Grade 1 chasers such as Bobs Worth, Minella Indo and Monkfish, underlining how often it showcases the next generation of staying stars.

Willie Mullins, in particular, has turned it into a key target, winning four of the last ten runnings with Penhill, Monkfish, The Nice Guy, and Jasmin De Vaux in 2025.

Key Trends For Finding The Winner

Recent trend work around the race highlights a handful of recurring themes punters tend to lean on.

• Most winners have already run at least three times over hurdles and arrive with plenty of match practice in the book.
• A proven win at around three miles, or at least a strong finish over 2m5f‑plus in testing conditions, is a big positive.
• The majority had run, and often won, in the previous 54 days, suggesting you want something hard-fitting rather than wrapped in cotton wool.
• Six and seven‑year‑olds dominate the recent roll of honour, fitting the profile of a mature but still‑progressive staying novice.

If you are planning a bet on the race, it also pays to shop around for value and offers, and using a guide to top UK horse racing betting sites is a useful starting point before you place your Cheltenham wagers.

But who are the novices that are currently dominating the betting markets ahead of the Festival in 2026?

Doctor Steinberg – Mullins’ Strong Stayer

Doctor Steinberg brings exactly the sort of profile Mullins has used to win this race before: Irish point form, a steady education in bumpers and maidens, then a smooth graduation to Graded staying hurdles.

Since moving from the flat, he has a 100% win record over hurdles, including an authoritative success in the Grade 1 Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown over 2m6f on heavy ground where he powered clear of Kazansky to win by eight lengths.

Crucially, that Leopardstown race came at a similar trip and in gruelling conditions, right in line with recent Albert Bartlett winners at this stage of the season.

He has already shown he can sustain an effort from the second last, find again up the hill, and back up quickly from a mid‑winter campaign, all traits that tend to translate well to the New Course in March.

With Mullins’ record in the race and Paul Townend likely to keep the partnership intact, he looks a rock‑solid trends horse.

No Drama This End – The Denman‑style British Hope

For many, No Drama This End is the standout British novice hurdler of the season and the biggest home‑trained threat to the Irish.

Paul Nicholls’ gelding announced himself with a dominant Cheltenham novice win in the autumn before racking up a sequence of graded victories at Sandown and Newbury, including the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle over 2m5f.

The manner of that Challow success was striking: he travelled like the best horse throughout and put useful rivals like Klimt Madrik firmly in their place, earning an official rating of 143, a figure that compares favourably with early‑career runs from stable legend Denman, to whom Nicholls has explicitly likened him.

The question here is not class but trip. All his best work so far has come between 2m4f and 2m5f on relatively decent ground, and while his pedigree and style of racing suggest three miles should be within range, he still has to prove his stamina in a race that can turn into a war of attrition.

From a trends angle, he ticks most boxes with multiple hurdle runs, Grade 1 form, a recent win, and the right age, but the lack of a win beyond 2m5f is a small nagging doubt compared with Doctor Steinberg and Thedeviluno.

Thedeviluno – Nolan’s Progressive Grinder

Thedeviluno represents Paul Nolan and arrives as one of the more experienced stayers in the field. He won his maiden over two miles on heavy ground before stepping up in trip successfully.

His narrow defeat by Doctor Steinberg in a Navan Grade 2 was quickly overturned when he improved again to land the 2m7f Grade 2 at Doncaster in January, outstaying a big field in a strongly‑run race.

That Doncaster performance is particularly interesting for Albert Bartlett purposes. It showed he handles travelling to Britain, can cope with a long run‑in, and finds plenty late, all echoes of past winners such as Minella Indo and Vanillier, who blossomed once stepped up to a true three‑mile test.

If there is a concern, it is tactical rather than physical. He can hit a flat spot and may find himself shuffled back, turning for home before staying on strongly, a running style that always carries a small traffic risk in a potential 20‑runner field around Cheltenham.

Who Fits The Trends Best?

While the market has struggled to split the front three, applying the usual Albert Bartlett trends offers a way to rank their chances.

Doctor Steinberg: proven at three miles in Graded company, OR in the right zone, trained by the most successful handler in the race, and arrives off a recent winning run.

Thedeviluno: already a three‑mile‑type grinder with cross‑channel form and a Doncaster win that looks an ideal trial, his profile closely mirrors several past Irish winners.

No Drama This End: arguably the classiest middle‑distance novice in the field with top‑level 2m5f form, but still to prove himself at a flat‑out three miles under Festival pressure.

On balance, and strictly through the lens of historical patterns rather than raw excitement, Doctor Steinberg edges the verdict as the horse who most clearly matches what a typical Albert Bartlett winner looks like at this stage of the season.

Thedeviluno is probably the main danger, with No Drama This End needing to show he is as effective at a grinding three miles as he is at 2m5f. But this is racing, and anything can happen, so only time will tell.