Horses five years old or older may compete in the Grade 2 National Hunt steeplechase, the Altcar Novices’ Chase.

The Altcar Novices’ Chase is a Grade 2 race for five-year-olds and upwards over two and a half miles.

It takes place at Haydock Park in January and has been won by subsequent Grade 1 winners including My Way de Solzen (2007), Taquin Du Seuil (2014), Bristol De Mai (2016) and Waiting Patiently (2017).

The novice chasers’ race is scheduled to take place in January each year.

Find out more about the Altcar Novices’ Chase:

Altcar Novices’ Chase

Race Overview – Altcar Novices’ Chase

There are seventeen fences that must be jumped throughout the race, which is raced at Haydock Park over a distance of around 2 miles and 4 furlongs (2 miles 3 furlongs and 203 yards, or 4,099 metres).them.

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Famous Altcar Novices’ Chase Winners

The Altcar Novices’ Chase was first run in 1996 with victory going to Nahthen Lad, trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by Warren Marston. He set the standard for winners of this event by going on to win the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. 1997 winner Simply Dashing gained his biggest success at Ascot in the First Bank National Gold Cup later that season.

In 2007 Alan King saddled My Way de Solzen to land the prize with Robert Thornton aboard. He had won the Grade 1 World Hurdle at the 2006 Cheltenham Festival and followed up his Haydock victory by taking the Arkle Chase. He never quite fulfilled his potential over fences, being pulled up in the King George VI in 2008 before reverting to hurdles.

2010 winner Diamond Harry won the Hennessy Gold Cup for Nick Williams and 2014 winner Taquin Du Seuil won the JLT Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham. He also won the 2016 BetVictor Gold Cup for Jonjo O’Neill. Bristol De Mai won here in 2016 and would become something of a Haydock specialist, claiming three victories in the prestigious Betfair Chase. 2017 winner Waiting Patiently was yet another winner of this race to go on to better things, winning the Grade 1 Ascot Chase in 2018.

Key Altcar Novices’ Chase Trials

There are no obvious trial races for the Altcar Novices’ Chase but six of the last ten winners had been successful on their most recent outing. Only two of those had a previous victory in a Grade 1-3 race. Possible targets for the winner include the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown and the Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton. Three of the last ten winners ran in the Turners Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with Taquin Du Seuil winning both races in 2014.

There have been four winning favourites in the last ten renewals; Our Mick (2012), Taquin Du Seuil (2014), Testify (2018) and Minella Drama (2022). Only one of those winners did not feature in the first three in the betting; Castafiore (2019) won at 28-1 for Charlie Longsdon and Paul O’Brien. Horses aged six and seven account for eight of the last ten winners.

Altcar Novices’ Chase – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Donald McCain Jnr has won this race four times; Will Be Done (2009), Our Mick (2012), Testify (2018) and Minella Drama (2022). That puts him one ahead of Martin Pipe who won it for the last time with Don’t Be Shy in 2006. Tony McCoy leads the jockey stats in this race with three winners; Diwali Dancer (1998), It Takes Time (2003) and Taquin Du Seuil (2014).

Facts about the Altcar Novices’ Chase

  • The Altcar Novices’ Chase is a National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older.
  • It is run at Haydock racecourse over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (4,023 metres), and during its running, there are seventeen fences to be jumped.
  • The race is scheduled to take place each year in January.

Summary of the Altcar Novices’ Chase

Thank you for reading our Altcar Novices’ Chase guide.

We hope you found all the help you needed in this review whether you are watching or betting on the race.

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