Category: Races

Another race with royal flair, the Queen Mother Champion Chase is a 1 mile 7 furlong National Hunt Steeplechase race held at Cheltenham racecourse each year. The race takes place on the old course as part of the much anticipated Cheltenham Festival. It’s run on the second day of the festival. With twelve fences to clear and a competitive atmosphere to add into the mix, for many this is a real highlight of the four day event.

Inaugurated in 1959, the races name changed from the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase to the Queen Mother Champion Chase due to the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday celebrations. I’m sure nobody begrudges this change as it always was a joy to see the Queen Mother’s love of both life and horse racing throughout her golden years. She was not only a keen racing fan, but also an owner, coming close to winning this very event with Game Spirit in 1976.

The most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase is the beloved Badsworth Boy with three wins in a row in the 1980’s. Leading jockey honours are split between 60’s sensation Pat Taafe (winning with horses in 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966 and another for good measure in 1970!) and Barry Geraghty, who has shone brightly in more recent years.

A highlight in recent history has to be the back to back wins by Paul Nicholl’s trained Masterminded, who won the Queen Mother Champion Chase  in both 2008 and 2009. The 2018 winner was Nicky Henderson’s Altior. The Irish bred 8 year old and bookies favourite won by seven lengths and in impressive fashion.

As a race with royal connections the King George VI Chase certainly stands out as one to watch. Self explanatory in nature, the race was first run in 1937 to celebrate and honour the new monarch King George VI. Troubling times that they were the race was seldom run initially due to World War II which closed Kempton Park track, which is where the race was and still is held today.

The race is run over a distance of 3 miles and is for horses aged four years old or more. There are 18 fences to be navigated. The price purse is an impressive £225,000, with £128,138 going to the winner.

The King George VI takes place on December 26th each year as part of the 32red Winter Festival, and so many planning to attend there appreciate the Christmas feel to proceedings. The race is held in very high regard, with most not really placing it significantly below that of a Cheltenham Gold Cup win in terms of importance. In fact, on multiple occasions it has been bundled with both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Betfair Chase as a ‘triple’. Years back, a horse winning all three events would win a cool £1,000,000, and even now the ‘Kauto Star Trophy’ is awarded for horses achieving this feat.

Being that he had a trophy named after him, you’re right in deducing that Kauto Star is a former winner of the King George VI race, in fact that might be putting it lightly, since he won from 2006 to 2009 and again in 2011. In racing terms that’s the stuff that dreams are made of as I’m sure the jockey on each and every occasion Ruby Walsh, would attest to. Racing legend, Desert Orchid also impressed in the King George VII in his day, winning the race in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Winner of the 2017 race was Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite. The 6/4 favourite battled to the end against 50-1 shot Double Shuffle to claim the win.

Out of all of the races run in a season, few have such a venerable reputation as the Champion Hurdle. The race, suited to four year old horses and above, is part of the prestigious Cheltenham Festival. At a distance of 2 miles 87 yards and run on the old course at Cheltenham racecourse, the event takes place on the opening day of the Festival in March of each year.

The purse for the event is a very healthy £400,000, with £227,000 going to the winner. With that in mind, and the attention that the Cheltenham festival draws year on year, it’s no wonder that the cream of the crop show up to compete in this routinely thrilling race. It’s a long way from the very first Champion Hurdle in 1927 when the prize money of £365 was awarded to winner Blaris.

This Grade one National Hunt race has the best race horses of their day compete for the crown, resulting in many unmissable match-ups over the years since the race was first run in 1927. Famous names such as Istabraq, Persian War and Lanzarote have all won here.

It didn’t take long for the Champion Hurdle to ignite interest with the racing public, with 30,000 fans in attendance on course even in the 1950s. Notable moments over the years include mare Dawn Run winning the race in 1984 (and going on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup two years later) and the excitement of cheering on what would become one of the race’s three time winners such as Persian War, See You Then and most recently Istabraq who won in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Trainer Nicky Henderson often has a close eye on the Champion Hurdle and it’s paid off, since he’s leading trainer with 7 wins including Buveur D’Air in 2017 and 2018. Buveur D’Air was 4/6 favourites to repeat his 2017 success in 2018 and didn’t let down his supporters. Favourites often do well in the Champion Hurdle, and we have to go all the way back to Panjabi at 22-1 in 2009 to find an outsider taking his opponents to task.

The Hennessy Gold Cup, which now has the official title of the Irish Gold Cup, takes place in February of every year at the Leopardstown racecourse. It’s held over a distance of 3 miles and is an Irish Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase event. The race is often seen as good preparation for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and rightfully so, since three horses have won both events: Jodami (1993), Imperial Call (1996) and Sizing John (2017).

Although the race name will ring bells with many, the race itself is actually quite new, with the event first run in 1987 where it was called the Vincent O’Brien Irish Gold Cup after the successful trainer. As with many races, sponsorship shifts over time can result in changes to a race name, and in 2018 the race is currently named the Unibet Irish Gold Cup.

Florida Pearl with four wins from 1999 to 2004 is the most successful horse in the Irish Gold Cup, jockey Mark Dwyer matches this tally, and Willie Mullins is clearly fond of the course on account that he’s had a massive 9 winners over the years.

The 2018 winner was Edwulf, trained by Joseph O’Brien and ridden by Derek O’Connor. He was a very attractive 33-1, no doubt resulting in a profitable day for his backers.