Arkle Novices’ Chase

The Arkle Novices’ Chase, commonly known as the Arkle Chase, is the second race scheduled on the first day of the action at the Cheltenham Festival. It is a Grade 1 steeplechase that is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham Racecourse over a distance of 1 mile, 7 furlongs, and 199 yards. It is open to horses aged five years and older. The race is considered the number one minimum-distance race for novice chasers.

Arkle Novices’ Chase Overview

The Arkle Novices’ Chase is a Grade One chase for novices, normally run as the second race of the first day of the Cheltenham Festival. It is run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs, and 199 yards of the old course with thirteen fences to be jumped. The winning first-place prize money is likely to be around the £112,000 mark.

It is the leading two-mile chase for novices in the National Hunt calendar with the leading performers likely to go on and meet again at Aintree and Punchestown at their festivals in the following couple of months.

Arkle Novices’ Chase Betting Trends and Statistics

• 11 of the past 14 winners were trained by either Willie Mullins (5) or Nicky Henderson (5) including last year’s winner Jingo Baie for the latter.
• The best age appears to be six or seven with 27 of the past 34 running’s falling to a horse in that age bracket.
• Five year old’s have a poor recent record in the race and are 0-17 since 2007 although four 5 year olds did strike between 1998 and 2006.
• This is a race where the market is normally proved correct with 10 of the last 14 market leaders winning.
• Only 2 winners this century were sent off at double-figure odds (Put The Kettle On at 16/1 and Western Warhorse at 33/1).
• A run of 14 consecutive winners who had won last time out was broken in 2024 when Gaelic Warrior won (he had unseated when beaten on his previous start).
• The winner will be deemed to be called the best two-mile novice chaser around and is likely to be seen back at the following year’s Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Arkle Novices’ Chase History

Introduced as a replacement for The Cotswolds Chase in 1969, its title pays homage to the great Arkle, a three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the mid-1960s. It has been sponsored by Guinness, The Irish Independent newspaper, The Racing Post, and has, since 2021, been sponsored by Sporting Life.

Some of the noteworthy winners throughout the years include Flagship Uberalles (1999), Moscow Flyer (2002), Sprinter Sacre (2012), Douvan (2016), Altior (2017), Shishkin (2021) and El Fabiolo (2023).

Arkle Novices’ Chase Winners