Every championship race is much sought after at the Cheltenham Festival, which is why we are counting down the key moments throughout the National Hunt season towards each one of them.
Here on our “Road to the Champion Chase” series, we will identify the most significant races performances as time ticks down to the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, with the Queen Mother Champion Chase set to take place on Wednesday, 12th March 2025.
With the season still to get underway in earnest, here are the key stopping points for the likely contestants of the 2025 Champion Chase, including the dates and likely participants.
Shloer Chase – Cheltenham – Friday, 15th November 2024
Though previously contested on the Sunday of Cheltenham’s three-day November meeting, the Grade 2 Shloer Chase is run over the same course and distance as the Champion Chase and has been switched to the Friday this season. It is traditionally a small-field affair, but for its relatively low-key status, it has produced two winners of the Queen Mother in the past decade, with Sprinter Sacre (2015/16) and Put The Kettle On (2020/21) both going on to glory. That it is run on the Old Course, like the big race in March, potentially gives its participants an early sighter. Jonbon won it last year and could well prepare for a stronger tilt at the Festival by visiting once more.
Fortria Chase – Navan – Saturday, 16th November 2024
The Grade 2 Fortria Chase at Navan had lost its reputation as an early Champion Chase sighter until Captain Guinness’ back-to-back successes in the race. Run in mid-November, both Moscow Flyer and Big Zeb had used it as an autumn springboard back in the day, but 14 years had passed since the latter’s success before Captain Guinness became the latest Champion Chaser to have won the race en route. The likelihood is that he will reappear there again this term.
Tingle Creek – Sandown – Saturday, 7th December 2024
The first of the Grade 1 2m chases in either Great Britain or Ireland, the Tingle Creek is a heralded prize of its own right. It has occasionally produced an even better race than the Champion Chase itself, with Moscow Flyer’s victory in 2004 often cited as one of the greatest National Hunt races of all time. As a precursor to Champion Chase success, it has been unusually weak in recent years, with Altior the last horse to do the double in 2018/19. However, Sandown’s 2m and stiff jumping test will give this year’s Tingle Creek runners an excellent early education with Jonbon likely to defend his title, while El Fabiolo and Energumene have been mentioned in dispatches for the contest too.
Hilly Way – Cork – Sunday, 8th December 2024
Willie Mullins has done very well by the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase at Cork, not only in introducing some of his best horses for the season for the race, but also as the proprietor of its trophy. All but two of the renewals since 2007 (!) have been won by a Closutton-based horse, including the last five. Energumene won it in both 2021 and 2022 before winning his pair of Champion Chases later on in both those campaigns, while El Fabiolo was a 2/9 favourite to make it three in a row for the Hilly Way before his mishap. Expect one of that pair, or potentially a Mullins youngster, to be fielded in the 2024 event.
Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase – Leopardstown – Friday, 27th December 2024
Run on the second day of Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase is another of the pre-Cheltenham Grade 1s over the shorter distances. It is contested over an identical course and distance to the Dublin Chase, though has an astonishingly bad record of pre-empting the Champion Chase hero. Despite its Grade 1 status, its winners have a substantially worse record than the Hilly Way or Fortria Chase, with Moscow Flyer in the 2002/03 jumps season the last horse to do the double, though Captain Guinness was pulled up in the race last year and Put The Kettle On was third in 2020. This run will surely come to an end soon, with many of the Irish powerhouses lining it up as a target.
Clarence House Chase – Ascot – Saturday, 18th January 2025
Though it is Ascot’s own Grade 1 over 2m1f, the last two renewals of the Champion Chase have both been held at Cheltenham. It benefitted Energumene to get Cheltenham experience two seasons ago despite only finishing third to Editeur Du Gite, though Altior is the only winner since 2016 to win both the Clarence House and Champion Chase in the same season. The race did enjoy a golden period between 2013 and 2015 when all three of its winners, Sprinter Sacre, Sire De Grugy and Dodging Bullets, all followed up at the Festival in March. Jonbon will take in this race if fit.
Dublin Chase – Leopardstown – Sunday, 2nd February 2025
Run over 2m1f just like the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, the Dublin Chase is the newest Grade 1 on the road to the Champion Chase. Introduced in 2018, Willie Mullins has won all seven renewals, though none of his winners have yet doubled up at Cheltenham. That is something Gentleman De Mee and El Fabiolo could still look to cure, while Gaelic Warrior cannot be ruled out from contesting it now in open company. Gordon Elliott’s Found A Fifty, or Barry Connell’s Marine Nationale, could be the ones to end Mullins’ monopoly, and this would be an obvious target for them in the second half of the season before taking in the Champion Chase.
Game Spirit Chase – Newbury – Saturday, 8th February 2025
The Game Spirit Chase enjoyed a purple patch as a provider of winners for the Arkle as much as the Champion Chase in the 2010s, with both Sprinter Sacre and Altior stepping into open company before remaining in novice races at that year’s Festival. Altior did then win this prior to his 2018 Champion Chase victory, though Master Minded in 2018 was the last horse to win both contests. It was a race for second tier British contenders a year ago, but could be a winnable option for horses such as Blood Destiny, Hunters Yarn or Il Etait Temps for Willie Mullins this term, especially if he is chasing the Trainers’ Championship on these shores.
Champion Chase Winners Since 2010
| Year | Horse | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Big Zeb | J:Barry Geraghty T:Colm Murphy | 10/1 |
| 2011 | Sizing Europe | J:Andrew Lynch T:Henry De Bromhead | 10/1 |
| 2012 | Finian’s Rainbow | J:Barry Geraghty T:Nicky Henderson | 4/1 |
| 2013 | Sprinter Sacre | J:Barry Geraghty T:Nicky Henderson | 1/4F |
| 2014 | Sire De Grugy | J:Jamie Moore T:Gary Moore | 11/4F |
| 2015 | Dodging Bullets | J:Sam Twiston-Davies T:Paul Nicholls | 9/2 |
| 2016 | Sprinter Sacre | J:Nico De Boinville T:Nicky Henderson | 5/1 |
| 2017 | Special Tiara | J:Noel Fehily T:Henry De Bromhead | 11/1 |
| 2018 | Altior | J:Nico De Boinville T:Nicky Henderson | EvsF |
| 2019 | Altior | J:Nico De Boinville T:Nicky Henderson | 4/11F |
| 2020 | Politologue | J:Harry Skelton T:Paul Nicholls | 6/1 |
| 2021 | Put The Kettle On | J:Aidan Coleman T:Henry De Bromhead | 17/2 |
| 2022 | Energumene | J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins | 5/2 |
| 2023 | Energumene | J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins | 6/5F |
| 2024 | Captain Guinness | J:Rachael Blackmore T:Henry De Bromhead | 17/2 |