THE FESTIVAL 2017 MEDIA GUIDE

Tom Dreaper and Nicky Henderson have been the most
successful trainers of all time with five victories each.
Dreaper scored with Fortria (1958), Mountcashel King
(1961), Ben Stack (1961), Flyingbolt (1965) and Alpheus
(1971), while Henderson’s winners so far are Remittance
Man (1991), Travado (1993), Tiutchev (2000), Sprinter Sacre
(2012) and Simonsig (2013). The Racing Post, which backed
the Arkle Chase for the first time in 2012, is only the race’s
fourth sponsor. The Irish Independent was the backer from
2000 to 2011, Guinness sponsored from 1994 until 1999 and
Waterford Crystal between 1991 and 1993.
NATIONAL HUNT CHASE
Although the National Hunt Chase is today one of The
Festival’s lesser contests, the race is pivotal in the history of
Cheltenham Racecourse and of Jump racing itself. Indeed,
without the race for amateur riders, Cheltenham as it is
today – the sport’s headquarters, with the four-day Festival
that is the showcase for the season – may not have existed.
The National Hunt Chase was conceived in the 1850s by Dr
Fothergill Rowlands, who followed his father into medical
practice in Monmouthshire before going with his heart to
horses and the sporting community in Prestbury. Rowlands
– known as Fogo – was a fine and elegant amateur rider; he
got round Aintree in 1863 on his mare Medora, and rode her
to victory in a Grand Steeplechase at Baden Baden, wearing
his trademark white kid gloves.
He later trained at Epsom, where his head lad was his
gardener’s son John Jones, father of Herbert, who rode
Diamond Jubilee and Minoru to victory in Royal colours.
He was known for his philosophies, one of which was
“Experience is nothing unless you pay for it – but the less
you pay the better”. In the middle of the 19th century,
interest in steeplechasing, which had deteriorated in the
quality of its organisation and competitors, was waning.
The astute sporting writer Robert Surtees observed:
“Steeplechasing is neither hunting nor racing; it has neither
the wild excitement of the one, nor the accurate calculating
qualities of the other. Some of the horses are doubtless
fine and well-conditioned, but the majority are lean, lathy
brutes, lacking all the lively energy that characterises the
movements of the up-to-the-mark hunter.” Step forward,
Fogo. He saw the decline and devised a contest to
encourage the breeding of quality thoroughbreds among
the hunting community, the National Hunt Chase. He also
was instrumental in straightening the sport through the
formation of its first regulatory body, the National Hunt
Committee. Steeplechasing did have its roots in hunting,
hence the term hunt racing. When meetings took place
open to all, it became – logically - national hunt racing.
The plan was that the National Hunt Chase (with the suffix
Grand in its early years) would be formally funded by hunts
and offer a lucrative prize, but Rowlands’ first call to arms
in 1859 met with disappointment, with only two hunts
coming forward. In 1860, though, the response was all he
had hoped for and what is regarded as the first edition
of the race, which was confined to amateur riders, was a
resounding success. The conditions published were “Grand
National Hunt Steeplechase of £10 each, with £500 added.
For horses which have never won before the day of starting.
12st each. 4 miles.” Twelve hunts (the Duke of Beaufort’s,
the Monmouthshire, Lord Fizwilliam’s, the Warwickshire,
the North Warwickshire, the Quorn, Lord Dacre’s, Lord
Tredegar’s, the Cambridgeshire, the Oakley, the Bicester, and
the Heythrop) subscribed and 31 runners faced the starter.
The race was held near Market Harborough and the favourite
Bridegroom, owned by local man ‘Cherry’ Angell and ridden
by Edmund Burton (who in the 1840s had twice been part
of a losing Oxford crew in the Boat Race), won in a canter
by 20 lengths. The National Hunt Chase quickly became
the sport’s second most prestigious prize, after the Grand
National. It was a moveable feast and when the race was
first run at Prestbury Park in 1904 Cheltenham was its 27th
different home. The contest was back at Cheltenham in 1905,
before returning to Cheltenham permanently in March, 1911
when the fixture then proudly bore the heading “National
Hunt and Cheltenham” in the form book for the first time,
and the race’s move both reflected the course’s standing,
and consolidated it. The first winner at Cheltenham was 33/1
shot Sir Halbert, ridden by Arthur Smith and trained by Tom
Coulthwaite to beat 37 rivals. Even after the introduction of
the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1924, the National Hunt Chase
continued to be The Festival’s most valuable contest, even
if not the best in terms of class. In 1931, when the March
meeting was frozen off, it was the National Hunt Chase, not
the Gold Cup, which was reopened. It was not until after
World War II that the Gold Cup overtook the amateurs’
race in terms of value to the winner, £1,130 against £1,036.
The National Hunt Chase is for novices over an extreme
distance. At four miles, it is The Festival’s longest race and
for three years the distance was four miles and a furlong
(between 2005 and 2007). Some winners subsequently
achieved fame, including the 1886 Malton winner Why Not
and Quare Times (1954), who both won Grand Nationals.
Conjuror (1922), Sir Lindsay (1930), Pucka Belle (1936)
and Teaforthree all finished third in Grand Nationals, and
Over The Road (1988) fourth. Conjurer was also third in
the inaugural Gold Cup. Omerta (1986) and Butler’s Cabin
(2007) both captured Irish Grand Nationals. In the past 20
years, subsequently prominent performers to have emerged
from the race’s ranks include two Grand National winners in
Hedgehunter (12th in 2003) and Silver Birch (4th in 2004),
two Irish National winners in Timbera (2nd in 2002) and
Niche Market (8th in 2009), and the 2014 Cheltenham Gold
Cup runner-up On His Own (pulled up in 2011). The race has
never been sponsored, though it has borne tribute names.
In 2008 it was the Peter O’Sullevan National Hunt Chase
(to honour the retired commentator’s 90th birthday); in
2012 the Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase, in 2013 the
John Oaksey National Hunt Chase and in 2014 the Terry
Biddlecombe National Hunt Chase. The race honoured the
late Toby Balding in 2015 and the late amateur rider J T
McNamara, who was paralysed in a fall at The Festival in
2013 and died in 2016.
RSA NOVICES’ CHASE
The three-mile RSA Chase, run under its current title since
2009, is part of one of Cheltenham’s longest-running
sponsorships. It was the Royal & SunAlliance Chase up to
2008 and the Royal SunAlliance Chase in 1997. Sun Alliance,
which merged with Royal Insurance in 1996, previously
backed the Sun Alliance Chase for 23 years and sponsored
54