Brown Advisory Novices Chase

The Festival Novices’ Chase is a Grade 1 race over three miles at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

It was formerly run as the RSA Chase and features a clash between the top novice chasers from Britain and Ireland.

The winner is expected to challenge for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in subsequent seasons. Horses to go on and win both races include Arkle (1963), Looks Like Trouble (1999), Denman (2007) and Bobs Worth (2012).

Find out more about the Brown Advisory Novices Chase:

Race Overview – Brown Advisory Novice Chase

The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase is a race held at The Festival for horses aged five and up.

The Grade 1 National Hunt chase is run over a distance of approximately 3 miles on the Old Course at Cheltenham, with twenty obstacles to be jumped.

The race is for novice chasers only.

Famous Festival Novices Chase Winners

The race was first run in 1946 as the Broadway Novices’ Chase with victory going to Birthlaw.

Fulke Walwyn’s Mandarin (1959) was the first horse to win this race and go on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Arkle won this race on his first visit to Cheltenham in 1963 and subsequently won the Gold Cup in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

1976 winner Tied Cottage was first past the post in the 1980 Cheltenham Gold Cup but was controversially disqualified after failing a drugs test. The race was awarded to runner-up Master Smudge, himself the winner of the novice’s chase in 1979.

No winner of the RSA Chase in the 1980’s won the Gold Cup, although 1982 winner Brown Chamberlin did finish second to Burrough Hill Lad in 1984.

Garrison Savannah won here in 1990 and won the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following season for Jenny and Mark Pitman. He looked set to complete the Gold Cup/Grand National double but was caught on the run-in by Seagram at Aintree.

Miinnehoma (1992) won the Grand National two years’ later for Martin Pipe and Richard Dunwoody.

Paul Nicholls trained Denman to win as the well-backed 6-5 favourite in 2007. The gelding confirmed the promise of his previous victories to win by 10 lengths. He then defeated his stable companion Kauto Star in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Looks Like Trouble (1999), Bobs Worth (2012) and Lord Windermere (2013) also went to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following season. The victory of Lord Windermere was an emotional one for Trainer Jim Culloty who had ridden Best Mate to three successive Gold Cup wins.

In 2020, Nicky Henderson’s Champ made up a stunning amount of ground to catch Minella Indo. Both horses looked like Gold Cup material but it was the Irish-trained Minella Indo who would land steeplechasing’s Blue Riband in 2021 while Champ was pulled up.

The 2021 Festival Novices’ Chase was won by Monkfish, trained by Willie Mullins. Unfortunately, he met with an injury later that season and was forced to miss the 2021-22 season.

Key Festival Novices Chase Trials

The Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park has been the most significant form guide for this race. Topofthegame and Santini finished second and third at Kempton in 2019 before fighting out the finish of the RSA Chase. Might Bite looked certain to win the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase in 2016 but fell at the last. He bounced back to win the 2017 RSA Chase despite taking a wayward course up the home straight.

The three-mile Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival has produced future RSA Chase winners. Weapon’s Amnesty (2009) and Bobs Worth (2011) both won that race before winning here the following season. Minella Indo (2019) narrowly failed to complete the same double but Monkfish made no mistake in 2020-2021.

Horses that win the Festival Chase often contest the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree or the Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown.

Might Bite won the Mildmay at Aintree in 2017 while Albertas Run and Blaklion were both placed in the same race.

Browns Advisory Novices Chase Odds – 2023 (Festival Novices Chase)

• The Nice Guy – 10-1
• Jonbon – 14-1
• Minella Cocooner – 16-1
• Journey With Me – 16-1
• Zanahiyr – 16-1
• Gaillard Du Mesnil – 20-1

Tips for the Brown Advisory Chase 2023

Below are tips for the Brown Advisory Chase:

• 2 points to win on THE NICE GUY with great odds of 10-1
• 1 point each way for ZANAHIYR with odds of 16-1

Previous Winners of the RSA Chase (Festival Novices Chase)

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer
2012	Bobs Worth	7	Barry Geraghty	Nicky Henderson
2013	Lord Windermere	7	Davy Russell	Jim Culloty
2014	O’Faolain’s Boy	7	Barry Geraghty	Rebecca Curtis
2015	Don Poli	6	Bryan Cooper	Willie Mullins
2016	Blaklion	7	Ryan Hatch	Nigel Twiston-Davies
2017	Might Bite	8	Nico de Boinville	Nicky Henderson
2018	Presenting Percy	7	Davy Russell	Patrick G Kelly
2019	Topofthegame	7	Harry Cobden	Paul Nicholls
2020	Champ	8	Barry Geraghty	Nicky Henderson
2021	Monkfish	7	Paul Townend	Willie Mullins
2022	L’Homme Presse	7	Charlie Deutsch	Venetia Williams

Festival Novices Chase Betting Trends

Favourites have a mixed recent record in the RSA/Festival Chase. Prior to Monkfish (1-4 favourite) in 2021, Arkle had been the shortest-priced winner in the race’s history at 4-9. Albertas Run (2008) and Cooldine (2009) both won as favourites but the market leader was beaten for the next five seasons before Don Poli (13-8) in 2015. Might Bite (2017) and Presenting Percy (2018) were also successful favourites.

The longest priced winners were Canny Danny (1983) and Hussard Collonges (2002) who both returned at 33-1. Bostons Angel (2011) was at 16-1 chance and O’Faolains Boy (2014) returned at 12-1.

Seven-year-olds have the best record in this race in recent years, winning nine of the last twelve renewals. Star de Mohaison won as a five-year-old in 2006 and Don Poli was a year older when successful in 2015. Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite (2017) and Champ (2020) both won as eight-year-olds.

Most recent winners had won or been placed in their previous start and had raced within 40 days of the Cheltenham Festival.

A high percentage of winners had already won over three miles or further earlier in the season.

Previous form at Cheltenham is also a positive when assessing the Festival Novices’ Chase runners. Victory in one or more chases and at least three runs over fences are normally required.

Most previous winners had already been successful in a Grade 1 to 3 race and were officially rated 145 or higher.

Monkfish was the highest-rated winner in recent years at 164, 6lbs higher than 2018 winner Presenting Percy and 11lbs higher than Champ.

Festival Novices Chase – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Irish trained horses have a good record in this race.

The victory of Monkfish took Willie Mullins above Fulke Walwyn and Nicky Henderson as the most successful trainer in the history of the race with five wins.

Mullins had previously won with Florida Pearl (1998), Rule Supreme (2004), Cooldine (2009) and Don Poli (2015).

Arkle’s rider Pat Taaffe remains the most successful jockey with five victories. His other victories were Coneyburrow (1953), Solfen (1960), Grailagh Cnoc (1961) and Proud Tarquin (1970). Barry Geraghty won it four times, most recently on Champ in 2020 during his final Festival appearance.

Betting on the Festival Novices Chase

The Festival Novices’ Chase is the main target for leading stayers from Britain and Ireland.

There is a very strong ante-post market on the race. Bookmakers have started offering “non-runner – no bet” on the Festival Novices Chase towards the end of January.

If you are looking to bet online we recommend the following great deals:

All of the above made our list of the best Cheltenham bookies.

Summary of Brown Advisory Chase

The Brown Advisory Novice Chase, formerly the RSA, is one of the toughest races at The Festival.

A novice chase, it has produced many great performances over the years and horses who have gone on to have great success.

If you are looking to bet in the race, we recommend a horse that jumps well with good stamina, with the Irish having a fantastic record.

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