The Betway Bowl is a Grade 1 race over three miles and a furlong on the opening day of the Aintree Grand National meeting.
The Betway Bowl Chase takes place on the 11th of April 2024.
The Betway Bowl betting often features horses that ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Some of the most popular chasers in training have won here including Wayward Lad (1985, 1987), Desert Orchid (1988), Silviniaco Conti (2014, 2015) and Cue Card (2016).
The Betway Bowl is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase for horses aged five and up.
It is run at Aintree over a distance of approximately 3 miles and 1 furlong, with nineteen fences to be jumped during the race. It is run every year in early April.
The Betway Bowl was first run in 1984 with victory going to the Irish-trained Royal Bond.
Wayward Lad won it for the first time in 1985 and became the first dual winner when successful two years later.
Desert Orchid was a popular winner in 1988 for trainer David Elsworth and jockey Simon Sherwood. He went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989 after an epic battle with the mud-loving Yahoo. The pair met again in this race but Desert Orchid fell at the twelfth fence leaving his rival to gain handsome consolation for his Gold Cup defeat.
See More Business became the second Cheltenham Gold Cup winner to win this race in 2000. He had won the Cheltenham Festival feature the previous season before winning this as a ten-year-old. Cue Card (2016) had fallen at the third last in the Gold Cup when seemingly full of running and on course to collect a £1 million bonus following victories in the Betfair Chase and the King George VI Chase.
He was the favourite to win the Bowl for a second time in 2017 but was beaten by Tea For Two, ridden by Lizzie Kelly.
Other notable winners of this race include Barton Bank (1997), First Gold (2001 and 2003) and Grey Abbey (2005).
Key Betway Bowl Trials
A high percentage of past winners had run at the Cheltenham Festival on their previous start, six of the last eleven winners in the Gold Cup. However, none of them had won that race and surprisingly only one had been placed.
Aintree is a much flatter track and this race is far less of a stamina test than three and a quarter miles around Cheltenham. Horses who did not quite last up the hill at Cheltenham often seek consolation here.
There have been several examples of this over the years, notably dual winner Wayward Lad (1985 and 1987).
Silviniaco Conti also struggled in the closing stages of the Gold Cup but managed to win at Liverpool in 2014 and 2015. Cue Card (2016) was another to enjoy the less demanding track at Aintree.
Six of the last eleven Betway Bowl winners went on to contest the Punchestown Gold Cup. The first four were all beaten but Kemboy (2019) and Clan Des Obeaux (2021) were successful. Kemboy defeated stable companion Al Boum Photo at Punchestown, the winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup on his previous start.
Favourites have a very good recent record, winning five of the six renewals between 2015 and 2021*.
Might Bite (2018) was the shortest-priced winning Betway Bowl favourite during that spell at 4-5. Silviniaco Conti (2015) returned at 7-4, Cue Card (2016) at 6-5, Kemboy (2019) at 9-4 and Clan Des Obeaux (2021) at 5-2 favourite.
Follow The Plan was a shock 50-1 winner for Ireland in 2012, a victory that bucked all known trends in this race. Madison Du Berlais (2009) at 12-1 and Tea For Two (2017) at 10-1 were other relatively unfancied winners in recent years.
There does not appear to be any particular age bias in the Betway Bowl with winners from seven to ten in recent seasons. Escartefigue was the youngest winner in the history of the race when scoring as a six-year-old in 1998.
Wayward Lad (1987) and Docklands Express (1994) both managed to win this race at the age of twelve.
Most Betway Bowl winners had been successful at least once in a Grade 1 or Grade 2 chase and had an official rating of 158 or higher.
Only shock winner Follow The Plan (152) and Nacarat (155) had fallen below that figure in recent years.
Previous course form and one or more victories over three miles or further are other key factors in the winner’s profile.
*There was no race in 2020 as the meeting was abandoned due to the pandemic.
Betway Bowl – Top Trainers and Jockeys
Paul Nicholls is the trainer to follow in the Betway Bowl with a record five winners. He first won with See More Business in 2000, then again with What A Friend (2010) and Silviniaco Conti (2014 and 2015). His most recent success was in 2021 with dual King George VI Chase winner Clan Des Obeaux.
British trainers have tended to dominate this race.
Willie Mullins won this race for the first time with Florida Pearl in 2002 but it was seventeen years before he struck again with Kemboy in 2019. That was the first Irish-trained winner since Mouse Morris trained First Lieutenant to win under Bryan Cooper in 2013.
No jockey has managed to ride more than two Betway Bowl winners to date. There are currently seven riders on that mark, the most recent being Paddy Brennan (2011 and 2016) and Ruby Walsh (2010 and 2019).
Betting on the Betway Bowl
There is not a great deal of ante-post betting on the Betway Bowl, simply because the final field is uncertain until a couple of days before the race.
It often features a runner or two who featured in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but is rarely a target for the winner of that race.
Paul Nicholls deliberately side-stepped Cheltenham with Clan Des Obeaux when gaining his fifth win in the race in 2021.
It is usually a race that is best left until the day and often attracts a small field so each-way betting opportunities are limited.
£30 free bets when you register an account with Skybet.com or Sky Bet Betting App on the Aintree Grand National
NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY. FIRST SINGLE & E/W BET ONLY. 5P MINIMUM STAKE. 3 X £10 BET TOKENS. FREE BET STAKES NOT INCLUDED IN RETURNS. FREE BETS EXCLUDE VIRTUALS. FREE BETS ARE NON WITHDRAWABLE. NO FREE BET EXPIRY. ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AND FURTHER T&CS APPLY. #AD 18+. BEGAMBLEAWARE.ORG
This Open account offer gives you £50 in free bets as a welcome bonus when when new customers deposit and bet £10 online.
Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. #AD Registration required.
Join William Hill Racing today using promo code Z40 to take advantage of this promotional welcome bonus offer for new bettors.
18+ Play Safe. New customers only. Online and mobile only. From 14:00 08.04.22 until 17:15 09.04.22. Minimum £10 stake on The Randox Grand National Steeple Chase race racecard market only. Maximum £10 Free Bet credited to account on 10.04.22. Further terms apply. #AD
Get a whopping £60 in bonuses at Betfred as a welcome bonus offer when you stake £10 to bet on the Grand National using Promo Code BETFRED60.
New 18+ UK customers only. Register using the promo code WELCOME40, deposit and place first bet of £10+ on Sports (cumulative Evens+) within 7 days of registration. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets and £10 in Free Spins (50x20p) credited within 10 hours of bet settlement. Free Bet stakes are not included in any returns. Bonuses have a 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS verification and/or Proof of I.D and address may be required. #AD Full T&Cs apply.
Newcomers can bet £5 to get £20 in free bets as a one time promotional offer on the Aintree Grand National.
18+ New UK+IRE customers. Paypal and certain deposit types and bet types excluded. Min £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4 x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 7 days on sports, stake not returned, restrictions apply. #AD
Coral are offering new customers a chance to claim £20 in free bets as a promotional offer, just in time for the Grand National event!
18+ New UK+IRE customers. PayPal and certain deposit and bet types excluded. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4 x £5 free bets valid for 7 days on sports, stake not returned, restrictions apply. #AD
888Sport are giving away £30 in free bet tokens to new customers as a special promotional offer for the Grand National.
New customers only – Minimum deposit of £10 using deposit code 30F – A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £10 placed on any sports market – Minimum odds of 1/2 (1.5) – Free bets credited upon qualifying bet settlement and expire after 7 days – Free bet stakes not included in returns – Deposit method and withdrawal restrictions apply. #AD
New customers get £40 in horse racing bonuses as a welcome offer when you deposit and bet £10 on the Grand National.
18+ New customers opt in, bet £5 at odds 2.00+, no cashout. Get £5 in Free Bets & a £1 Free Bet every weekend for the next 20 weeks, set events at odds 2.00+. Plus a £5 Slot Bonus, selected games, wager 20x to withdraw max £250. Bonuses expire in 7 days. Card payments only. Offer Valid until 10.04.2022. T&C’s apply. begambleaware.org | #AD Please gamble responsibly
Claim a £20 free bet on the Aintree Grand National horse race when you place £50 worth of bets at Betfair.
New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. #AD Please Gamble Responsibly
The Betway Bowl is approximately 3 miles and 1 furlong long.
Are there any hurdles in the Betway Bowl?
The Betway bowl has a total of 19 fences to be jumped.
Betway Bowl Facts
The Betway Bowl Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in the United Kingdom open to horses aged five years or older.
The race is run on the New Course at Aintree over a distance of 3 miles and 1 furlong (5,131 metres), and during its running there are nineteen fences to be jumped.
It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in early April.
The Betway Bowl Chase was first run in 1984.
Previous course form is often a good pointer to the winner.
It is ran of the opening day of the Aintree Festival.
Related Betway Articles
Here are all articles related to the market-leading UK Betway bookmaker:
As the Co-Founder of British Racecourses, I love the chance to share my enjoyment of racing with others. As a family, we have always loved the racing and went to Haydock races as kids, as often as we could. We are now lucky enough to own some fantastic racehorses who we will follow around the tracks and we have had some great wins.
As part of British Racecourses, I enjoy visiting and reviewing the racecourses that we visit, all of which I think have something to offer and are brilliant in their own ways.
£30 free bets when you register an account with Skybet.com or Sky Bet Betting App on the Aintree Grand National
This Open account offer gives you £50 in free bets as a welcome bonus when when new customers deposit and bet £10 online.
Join William Hill Racing today using promo code Z40 to take advantage of this promotional welcome bonus offer for new bettors.
Get a whopping £60 in bonuses at Betfred as a welcome bonus offer when you stake £10 to bet on the Grand National using Promo Code BETFRED60.
Newcomers can bet £5 to get £20 in free bets as a one time promotional offer on the Aintree Grand National.
Coral are offering new customers a chance to claim £20 in free bets as a promotional offer, just in time for the Grand National event!
888Sport are giving away £30 in free bet tokens to new customers as a special promotional offer for the Grand National.
New customers get £40 in horse racing bonuses as a welcome offer when you deposit and bet £10 on the Grand National.
Claim a £20 free bet on the Aintree Grand National horse race when you place £50 worth of bets at Betfair.
