Klub De Reve put in a tidy performance to win Saturday’s Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton, beating Kocktail Bleu by three lengths with the well-backed Mustang Du Breuil back in third. Harry Derham’s horse has improved with every run this season and the step up to Grade 2 level didn’t faze him at all.
Bookmakers trimmed him into around 12/1 for the Supreme. On Racing Post comments, he’s already being talked up as a live outsider. And look, he might be. But before anyone gets carried away, we pulled the Dovecote form since 2012 and the Festival record of its winners is, well, not great.
Fourteen Winners, Zero Festival Victories
Here’s what happened when the last fourteen Dovecote winners went to Cheltenham:
| Year | Dovecote Winner | Speed Rating | At Cheltenham |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tripoli Flyer | 148 | Pulled up in Supreme |
| 2024 | Lump Sum | 117 | Didn’t run at Festival |
| 2023 | Rubaud | 122 | Didn’t run at Festival |
| 2022 | Aucunrisque | 123 | 18th in County Hurdle (2023) |
| 2021 | Cape Gentleman | 122 | Didn’t run at Festival |
| 2020 | Highway One O Two | 121 | 6th in County Hurdle |
| 2019 | Southfield Stone | 142 | Didn’t run at Festival |
| 2018 | Global Citizen | 82 | 7th in Champion Hurdle |
| 2017 | River Wylde | 136 | 3rd in Supreme |
| 2016 | Winter Escape | 128 | 5th in County Hurdle |
| 2015 | Days Of Heaven | 135 | 23rd in Coral Cup |
| 2014 | Irving | 132 | 9th in Supreme |
| 2013 | Forgotten Voice | 131 | Didn’t run at Festival |
| 2012 | Grumeti | 110 | 3rd in Triumph Hurdle |
Two placed horses from fourteen runners. No winners. Several didn’t even make it to Cheltenham at all.
The Speed Rating Problem
Klub De Reve posted a speed rating of 124 on Saturday. That’s reasonable for a Dovecote winner — right in line with Aucunrisque (123), Cape Gentleman (122) and Highway One O Two (121). None of those three did anything at the Festival.
The two Dovecote winners who actually placed at Cheltenham? River Wylde ran to 136 at Kempton before his Supreme third. Grumeti’s 110 looks anomalous, but he was a top-class juvenile who’d been running in much better company.
For context, the average Supreme winning speed rating over the last decade is around 145. Klub De Reve is 21 points short of that. Tripoli Flyer posted 148 in last year’s Dovecote — comfortably the best in this sample — and still pulled up in the Supreme.
What the Dovecote Actually Tells Us
The Dovecote is a good race. It’s Grade 2, it’s at a fair track, and it sorts out horses with a bit about them from the ones who’ve been flattering themselves in maidens. But it’s run at Kempton over two miles on a flat, right-handed track. Cheltenham’s undulating left-handed New Course is a completely different test.
Horses who win the Dovecote tend to be slick jumpers on a flat surface. Cheltenham rewards stamina, guts, and the ability to handle a hill. Those are different skill sets.
That doesn’t mean Klub De Reve can’t run well at the Festival. His bumper form ties in with Talk The Talk, who’s a decent benchmark, and he’s clearly on an upward curve — beaten at Exeter in December, winning a Grade 2 by February is proper progression. Derham has mentioned schooling him midweek before making a plan.
The Honest Take
If you fancy Klub De Reve in the Supreme at 12/1, know what you’re buying: a progressive novice whose trial form historically doesn’t translate to Cheltenham. Two thirds and twelve blanks from the last fourteen Dovecote winners is the kind of stat that should give you pause.
He might be the exception. But the Dovecote’s Festival record says the market probably has him about right.