The National Hunt Chase is the final race on Day One at the Cheltenham Festival and plenty of racegoers will be sticking around to watch the best amateur jockeys in action.
Racing over the now reduced three miles, seven furlongs trip, the top novice staying chasers will do battle over 25 fences in a bid to claim victory.
It is the oldest race at the Festival, with the inaugural National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup taking place as early as 1860.
Here though, we focus on the last 20 renewals to provide the most important betting trends and statistics ahead of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.
National Hunt Chase Trends & Statistics
This race is a bit of a minefield at the best of times but there are a few statistical trends that keep cropping up. Here are our favourite National Hunt Chase trends:
- 20/20 winners had made fewer than seven OR more than 11 career starts prior to Cheltenham.
- All 20 winners were shorter than 40/1 in the horse racing betting odds.
- 20 out of 20 had no more than 12 runners in their previous race.
- 19/20 had raced four or more times that season.
- 19 out of 20 winners went off no bigger than 12/1 last time out.
- 18/20 winners were within one year of the average race age.
- 18 out of 20 won at least one of their last eight starts.
- 18/20 last win was NOT in a Beginners Chase.
- 17 out of 20 winners had previously ran in a Graded race.
Top Trainers For The National Hunt Chase
Jonjo O’Neill is the top trainer in this race with six victories, the most recent being Minella Rocco in 2016.
Minella Rocco went on to finish second in the 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup and could be a leading player in the Foxhunters Chase this year.
Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have had two winners apiece in this race in recent years and they have the two market leaders ahead of the 2020 renewal.
Can Carefully Selected get the job done or is Champagne Classic the better selection?
National Hunt Chase Prize Money
There was £125,000 up for grabs for winning connections in the 2019 National Hunt Chase and the 2020 prize fund is likely to be similar.
Punters will be keeping a close eye on horse racing tips, predictions and news in the build-up to the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.
*Credit for the photo in this article belongs to Alamy*
