A Grade 1 race run over 2m 4f 127y, the Ryanair Chase is one of the highlights of the entire Cheltenham Festival as some of the premier middle distance chasers do battle and we take a look back at the recent history of the race and pick out some vital statistics and trends. Often attracting those chasers that don’t stay the Cheltenham Gold Cup trip, the Ryanair Chase has grown in stature since its 2005 inception and continues to be one of the most exciting races of the four-day National Hunt spectacle.
Age
Open to horses aged five years and older the first Ryanair Chase was first held in 2005 when the Cheltenham Festival was extended to four days and it has continued to grow in stature over the last two decades and has been won by some very smart horses in its time. The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Imperial Commander won the 2009 renewal as an eight-year-old and used it as a springboard to Cheltenham Gold Cup glory the following year, while Jonjo O’Neill’s Albertas Run and the Willie Mullins-trained Allaho are the only dual winners of the race.
No six-year-old has won the race so far, while there’s only been one winning ten-year-old in the last 15 years and that was the aforementioned Albertas Run, so it’s wise to stick with the seven, eight and nine-year-olds. It is also often a contest that will see the same horses competing year-on-year looking to claim victory in the event.
Age Of Ryanair Chase Winners In Last 15 Years
- 6 – 0 winners
- 7 – 6 winners
- 8 – 4 winners
- 9 – 4 winner
- 10+ – 1 winner
Starting Price
Plenty of trainers target the Ryanair Chase with those horses that may not reach Cheltenham Gold Cup standard or are just unable to stay beyond three miles and the honour roll is pretty impressive. However, when looking at the recent winners of the race over the last 15 years it’s a race that can not only see favourites dominate, as it can sometimes throw up a surprise winner.
Allaho is the only ever horse to win at odds-on when he cruised to victory in the 2022 renewal, while Vautour was another impressive market leader to claim the prize in 2016, but while there have been no 20/1+ winners of the race there have been two winners at double-figured prices. Alan King’s Uxizandre was arguably the biggest shock winner of the race under AP McCoy when he landed the 2015 Ryanair Chase, but as you can see from the table below the prices of winning horses can differ significantly.
Starting Price Of Ryanair Chase Winners In Last 15 Years
- 1/2 to Evens – 2 winners
- 11/10 to 3/1 – 4 winners
- 100/30 to 6/1- 5 winners
- 13/2 to 10/1 – 2 winners
- 11/1 to 16/1 – 2 winners
- 20/1+ – 0 winners
Rating
Down the years the Ryanair Chase has attracted some of the premier chasers in training and looking at the official ratings of the recent winners it just emphasises the fact you need to be a top notch Grade 1 horse to prevail in the event. The lowest-rated horse to win the Ryanair in the last 15 years came all the way back in 2009 when Imperial Commander claimed victory and we know what he went on to achieve in later life, while the highest-rated winner was the imperious Vautour, who was rated a whopping 176 when he landed the prize in 2016.
Delving into the stats further you can see that most horses to win the Ryanair Chase have been rated between 161 and 170, which is an extremely high rating and it continues to be a race that is the place for the top UK & Irish middle distance chasers and it will continue to attract competitive line-ups with 160+ horses likely to dominate for years to come.
Official Rating Of Ryanair Chase Winners In Last 15 Years
- 155-160 – 1 winner
- 161-165 – 5 winners
- 166-170 – 6 winners
- 171-165 – 2 winners
- 176+ – 1 winners
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