Cheltenham Gold Cup

As the most prestigious race run during the National Hunt season, the Cheltenham Gold Cup requires little or no introduction. However, for anyone unfamiliar with the 'Blue Riband' event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 steeplechase run over 3 miles, 2 furlongs and 70 yards on the New Course at Cheltenham in March. The race was inaugurated, as a steeplechase, in 1924, but was run on the Old Course at Cheltenham until 1959.

The legendary Golden Miller – who remains the only horse to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season – won five consecutive renewals in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936 and is, unsurprisingly, the most successful horse in the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Other notable winners include Arkle, the highest-rated steeplechaser of the Timeform era, Mill House, Kauto Star, Desert Orchid and Burrough Hill Lad, to name but a handful.

The late Thomas 'Tom' Dreaper saddled Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966) and Fort Leney (1968) to victory and, more than five decades after his retirement in 1971, remains the leading trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Looking ahead to the 2023 renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is scheduled for 3.05pm on Friday, March 17, it may be worth noting that six of the last seven running have been won by Irish-trained horses.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, the early ante-post market is headed not by reigning champion, A Plus Tard, but rather by Galopin Des Champs, who has won three of his four starts over fences with consummate ease and was an unlucky loser in the Turners Novices' Chase, when falling at the final fence with the race at his mercy. The home challenge is headed by Ahoy Senor and L'Homme Presse, who filled the first two places in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase,

Altcar Novices' Chase

 The Altcar Novices' Chase is a Grade 2 steeplechase run over 2 miles, 3 furlongs and 203 yards at Haydock Park in January. As the name suggests, the race is restricted to horses, aged five years and upwards, who start the current season without a win over regulation fences.

The Altcar Novices' Chase began life, as a lowly Class D affair, in 1996, but was elevated to Class B status the following year and again, to Grade 2 status, in 2007. In 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005 – the 2001 was abandoned due to frost – the race was run 2 miles and 6 furlongs, before reverting to its original distance in 2006.

The 2023 renewal of the Altcar Novices' Chase is scheduled for Saturday, January 21, when it is one of four Grade 2 races on the Haydock Park card, including the feature race, the Peter Marsh Chase. Cholmondeley trainer Donald McCain is currently the most successful handler in the history of the race, having saddled Will Be Done (2009), Our Mick (2012), Testify (2018) and Minella Drama (2022) to victory.

Since the demise of the famous drop fences at Haydock Park, which were replaced by more forgiving, portable versions in 2007, the course present a less severe test of jumping than was once the case. Nevertheless, novices tackle seventeen obstacles during the Altcar Novices' Chase, so sound jumping is a pre-requisite, especially if the going is on the soft side.

That said, course form, even winning course form, is not, with none of the last ten winners having previously won at Haydock Park and only three having any experience of the Newton-le-Willows track. For the record, nine of the last ten winners of the Altcar Novices' Chase came from the first three in the starting price betting market.

Henry VIII Novices' Chase

The Henry VIII Novices' Chase is a Grade 1 steeplechase run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 119 yards – that is, slightly shorter than two miles, but permissible since National Hunt racecourses were remeasured in 2015 – at Sandown Park in early December. As the name suggests, the race is restricted to horses aged five years and upwards who, at the start of the current season, are yet to win a race over regulation fences and are therefore classified as 'novices' over the larger obstacles.

The historic town of Esher, Surrey, which has been the home of Sandown Park since 1875, was a Royal hunting lodge during the reign of Henry VIII (1509 – 1547); the race is run in memory of 'Old Coppernose' himself. The Henry VIII Novices' Chase was inaugurated, as a Grade 2 contest, in 1987 but, having achieved sky-high standing, was eventually upgraded to Grade 1 status in 2011.

Reigning champion trainer Paul Nicholls is the leading trainer in the history of the Henry Novices' Chase with seven wins, courtesy of Dines (1998), Thisthatandtother (2003), Marodima (2007), Al Ferof (2011), Hinterland (2013), Vibrato Valtat (2014) and Dynamite Dollars (2018). Speaking at his owners' day in September, 2022, Paul Nicholls said, 'We're really strong with our novice chasers...', which include Gelino Bello, Monmiral, McFabulous, Complete Unknown and Stage Star, so further success in the Henry VIII Novices' Chase is by no means out of the question.

Arguably the best horse to win the race, though, was the prolific Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson. The High Chaparral gelding sprinted clear to win by 6 lengths on just his second start over fences and went on the win the Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Queen Mother Champion Chase twice at the next three Cheltenham Festivals, achieving a Timeform Annual Rating of 180 in the process.

Mick Channon

Former Southampton and England striker Mick Channon, who once described himself as 'a bit of a maverick as a trainer', turned his full attention to his erstwhile hobby, horse racing, after his retirement from professional football in 1986. Foresaking football management for racehorse training on the grounds that, 'Horses don't answer back', Channon worked as assistant trainer to John Baker and Ken Cunningham-Brown before taking out a training licence in his own right in 1990.

Channon initially set up on his own in Lambourn, Berkshire with a string of ten horses, but nonetheless saddled 16 winners in his inaugural season. Thereafter, he steadily increased the quantity and quality of his string and, by 1994, had saddled his first Group race winners, including his first Group 1 winner, Piccolo, who was awarded the Nunthorpe Stakes at York on the disqualification of Blue Siren.

It would be another five years until Channon saddled his next Group 1 winner, Seazun, in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. However, by that stage of his career, having outgrown his original base, he had moved to the historic West Isley Stables, near Newbury and was well on his way to becoming one of the leading trainers in the country. Channon enjoyed his most successful season in 2003, with 144 winners and over £2 million in prize money. Now 72, Channon still harbours the ambition to own or breed a Derby winner, although he said, 'The game’s not just about winning; it’s about the pleasure you get out of being involved in it.'