The Festival Novices’ Chase is a Grade 1 race over three miles at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Brown Advisory Novices Chase is held on Wednesday 15th March 2023.
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:
If you are searching for more horse racing tips for events held at Cheltenham then check out our Cheltenham betting tips page.
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 1980s 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.
The 2022 race was won by the exciting L’omme Presse.
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.
Might Bite won the Mildmay at Aintree in 2017 while Albertas Run and Blaklion were both placed in the same race.
Previous Winners of the RSA Chase (Festival Novices Chase)
Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
1946
Birthlaw
11
Ted Vinall
Tommy Rayson
1947
no race 1947 [a]
1948 (1)
Blakely Grove
7
Joe Maguire
Ivor Anthony
1948 (2)
Mountain Prince
9
Bryan Marshall
Fulke Walwyn
1949 (1)
Glen Fire
6
J. Spencer[b]
Syd Mercer
1949 (2)
Comeragh
8
D. Kelly
Noel Furlong
1950 (1)
Manicou
5
Lord Mildmay[b]
Peter Cazalet
1950 (2)
Arctic Gold
5
Glen Kelly
Gerald Balding
1951
On View
8
Bryan Marshall
Fulke Walwyn
1952
Good and Plenty
8
Jimmy Power
Jack Fawcus
1953
Coneyburrow
7
Pat Taaffe
Joe Osbourne
1954
Glenbeigh
8
Dave Dick
Fulke Walwyn
1955
Great Eliza
7
B. Cooper
Danny Morgan
1956
Polar Flight
6
Tommy Cusack
George Spann
1957
Mandarin
6
Michael Scudamore
Fulke Walwyn
1958
Just Awake
6
Arthur Freeman
Peter Cazalet
1959
Mac Joy
7
Arthur Freeman
Ken Bailey
1960
Solfen
8
Pat Taaffe
Willie O'Grady
1961
Grallagh Cnoc
7
Pat Taaffe
Joe Osbourne
1962
Caduval
7
Laurie Morgan
Bogden Lubecki
1963
Arkle
6
Pat Taaffe
Tom Dreaper
1964
Buona Notte
7
Johnny Haine
Bob Turnell
1965
Arkloin
6
Liam McLoughlin
Tom Dreaper
1966
Different Class
6
David Mould
Peter Cazalet
1967
Border Jet
7
Josh Gifford
Ryan Price
1968
Herring Gull
6
John Crowley
Paddy Mullins
1969
Spanish Steps
6
John Cook
Edward Courage
1970
Proud Tarquin
7
Pat Taaffe
Tom Dreaper
1971
Tantalum
7
David Nicholson
Michael Pope
1972
Clever Scot
7
David Mould
Harry Thomson Jones
1973
Killiney
7
Richard Pitman
Fred Winter
1974
Ten Up
7
Tommy Carberry
Jim Dreaper
1975
Pengrail
7
John Francome
Fred Winter
1976
Tied Cottage
8
Tommy Carberry
Dan Moore
1977
Gay Spartan
6
Michael Dickinson
Tony Dickinson
1978
Sweet Joe
6
Steve Smith Eccles
Harry Thomson Jones
1979
Master Smudge
7
Richard Hoare
Arthur Barrow
1980
Lacson
8
Steve Knight
Bob Hawker
1981
Lesley Ann
7
Colin Brown
David Elsworth
1982
Brown Chamberlin
7
John Francome
Fred Winter
1983
Canny Danny
7
Niall Madden
Jimmy FitzGerald
1984
A Kinsman
8
Geordie Dun
John Brockbank
1985
Antarctic Bay
8
Frank Berry
Pat Hughes
1986
Cross Master
9
Reg Crank
Tom Bill
1987
Kildimo
7
Graham Bradley
Toby Balding
1988
The West Awake
7
Simon Sherwood
Oliver Sherwood
1989
Envopak Token
8
Peter Hobbs
Josh Gifford
1990
Garrison Savannah
7
Ben de Haan
Jenny Pitman
1991
Rolling Ball
8
Peter Scudamore
Martin Pipe
1992
Miinnehoma
9
Peter Scudamore
Martin Pipe
1993
Young Hustler
6
Peter Scudamore
Nigel Twiston-Davies
1994
Monsieur Le Cure
8
Peter Niven
John Edwards
1995
Brief Gale
8
Philip Hide
Josh Gifford
1996
Nahthen Lad
7
Warren Marston
Jenny Pitman
1997
Hanakham
8
Richard Dunwoody
Ron Hodges
1998
Florida Pearl
6
Richard Dunwoody
Willie Mullins
1999
Looks Like Trouble
7
Paul Carberry
Noel Chance
2000
Lord Noelie
7
Jim Culloty
Henrietta Knight
2001
no race 2001 [c]
2002
Hussard Collonges
7
Russ Garritty
Peter Beaumont
2003
One Knight
7
Richard Johnson
Philip Hobbs
2004
Rule Supreme
8
David Casey
Willie Mullins
2005
Trabolgan
7
Mick Fitzgerald
Nicky Henderson
2006
Star de Mohaison
5
Barry Geraghty
Paul Nicholls
2007
Denman
7
Ruby Walsh
Paul Nicholls
2008
Albertas Run
7
Tony McCoy
Jonjo O'Neill
2009
Cooldine
7
Ruby Walsh
Willie Mullins
2010
Weapon's Amnesty
7
Davy Russell
Charles Byrnes
2011
Bostons Angel
7
Robbie Power
Jessica Harrington
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
2023
The Real Whacker
7
Sam Twiston-Davies
Patrick Neville
As you can see the list of previous winners in this prestigious chase (and one of the most important in the National Hunt calendar) is pretty impressive including Florida Pearl, Don Poli, Lord Windermere and other greats of the game.
Brown Advisory Chase Previous Result
💪 The Real Whacker clings on to win the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
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 and leading 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.
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