Smartform Data on The Race Labhttps://theracelab.co.uk/tags/smartform-data/Recent content in Smartform Data on The Race LabHugoen-gbTue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000El Fabiolo and the Chasing Dropouts: Do Horses Who Quit Fences Actually Win Over Hurdles?https://theracelab.co.uk/news/2026-03-03-el-fabiolo-chasing-dropouts-hurdle-return/Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000https://theracelab.co.uk/news/2026-03-03-el-fabiolo-chasing-dropouts-hurdle-return/<p>El Fabiolo won by 21 lengths at Leopardstown yesterday. Twenty-one lengths. Over hurdles. After a chasing career that ended with three falls in his last five starts over fences, including a grim sequence at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown last spring.</p> <p>The nine-year-old looked like a different horse. Paul Townend barely moved on him. And the obvious question now is whether he turns up at the Festival in a couple of weeks, maybe in the Champion Hurdle or the County, and whether anyone should take the switch seriously.</p>