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.'

Buster Edwards

Named Ronald 'Buster' Edwards, who served nine years in prison for his part in the Great Train Robbery in 1963, the equine Buster Edwards sprung one of the biggest surprises in recent history when winning at Haydock on December 30, 2019. Trained by David Pipe and ridden by Jack Tudor, the 6-year-old was sent off 7/2 favourite for the Bryn Gates Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle, run over an extended three miles on soft going. However, Buster Edwards had to be ridden along from just after halfway and Tudor was hard at work for most of the final circuit.

Two less-than-fluent jumps at the final two obstacles appeared to have sealed his fate and, at one point, he traded at the maximum 999.00 on Betfair and was matched for £289 at that price. Nevertheless, having jumped the final flight in a seemingly impossible seventh position, eight lengths off the pace, Buster Edwards produced an extraordinary finishing effort that surprised everyone, including his jockey. Tudor later joked, 'Mr Pipe said not to get there too soon', but even he could not have anticipated how his mount 'sprouted wings' in the closing stages.

Strike West, ridden by Billy Garrity, appeared to have taken the measure of his nearest pursuers, Donnie Brasco and Passam, on the run to the line and was matched for £7,332 at 1.01 on Betfair. However, in the final half a furlong, Buster Edwards honed into view of television cameras, coming home with a wet sail to collar Strike West in the final stride and win by a head in a jaw-dropping finish.