Ultima Handicap Chase – Expert Tips & Predictions
The Ultima Handicap Chase is the opening handicap contest of the Festival and often provides punters with a competitive betting heat to dig their teeth into. With so much to decipher, our experts have picked out their winning predictions, to give you the best chance of finding the winner.
Ultima Handicap Chase Bookmaker Odds – Race 2, Tuesday 14th March 2:50
| Horse/Form | Silks | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corach Rambler 4U1-54 |  | J: Derek Fox T: Lucinda Russell | 6/1 |
| Into Overdrive 11-121 |  | J: Jamie Hamilton T: Mark Walford | 7/1 |
| Nassalam 21-563 |  | J: Jamie Moore T: Gary Moore | 7/1 |
| Fastorslow 02-255 |  | J: J J Slevin T: Martin Brassil | 10/1 |
| Oscar Elite P-50P1 |  | J: Harry Cobden T: Joe Tizzard | 10/1 |
| The Big Breakaway 23P-22 | J: Brendan Powell T: Joe Tizzard | 12/1 | |
| Happygolucky 121/30 |  | J: David Bass T: Kim Bailey | 12/1 |
| The Goffer -41231 |  | J: Davy Russell T: Gordon Elliott | 12/1 |
| Monbeg Genius 1-4111 |  | J: Jonjo O’Neill Jr T: Jonjo O’Neill | 12/1 |
| Threeunderthrufive 16-3U6 |  | J: A P Heskin T: Paul Nicholls | 14/1 |
| Remastered 9-121P |  | J: David Noonan T: David Pipe | 16/1 |
| Tea Clipper 44-234 |  | J: Stan Sheppard T: Tom Lacey | 16/1 |
| Cloudy Glen /1P9-3 |  | J: Charlie Deutsch T: Venetia Williams | 20/1 |
| Harpers Brook 21-215 |  | J: Tom Cannon T: Ben Pauling | 25/1 |
| Top Ville Ben 2P-353 |  | J: Thomas Dowson T: Philip Kirby | 28/1 |
| Fanion D’Estruval 34-734 |  | J: Lucy Turner (5) T: Venetia Williams | 33/1 |
| Good Boy Bobby 7P-74P |  | J: Daryl Jacob T: Nigel Twiston-Davies | 33/1 |
| Fantastikas P-60P3 |  | J: Sam Twiston-Davies T: Nigel Twiston-Davies | 33/1 |
| Karl Philippe 12-127 |  | J: Jack Hogan (5) T: Fergal O’Brien | 33/1 |
| Iceo Madrik -366UF |  | J: Jack Tudor T: David Pipe | 33/1 |
| The Wolf -20864 |  | J: Paddy Brennan T: Olly Murphy | 40/1 |
| Laskalin 5-1328 |  | J: Shane Quinlan (3) T: Venetia Williams | 50/1 |
| Glamorgan Duke 43932U |  | J: Danny Gilligan (7) T: Paul John Gilligan | 66/1 |
All About The Ultima Handicap Chase in 2023
The Ultima Handicap Chase is one of the leading staying handicaps of the jumps season. Its place as the first handicap race of the Festival serves as a punter’s favourite puzzle, with more runners and more competition than the races surrounding it.
Run over three miles and a furlong of the old course, the 2022 field will only begin to take shape as the season progresses. Until declarations are announced it’s difficult to know which horses are going to line up here.
Currently, Into Overdrive is one of those towards the head of the betting, having won two of his three races this season. The defeat came at the hands of L’Homme Presse, which is easy to forgive!
Last year’s winner Corach Rambler could be set to line up and defend his crown. He might find that a tough task however, considering only one horse has won back-to-back renewals of the race this millennium.
Other names prominent in the market include Threeunderthrufive, The Goffer and Thunder Rock.
Qualifications/Trends
Any horse aged five or over can compete in the race and they must have earned a handicap mark. No five-year-olds have won this from the end of the Second World War though, as that age group would routinely find this too tough a stamina test.
Unusually, however, though age often brings with it staying power, Vintage Clouds was the first horse aged 10 or above to win this race since 2010, ensuring a decade’s gap in between.
It also pays to mix things up in looking for the winner. When Un Temps Pour Tout won his second Ultima Handicap Chase in 2017, he was the first horse to repeat his initial victory since Scot Lane in 1983. He broke a second unwritten rule in the race as well: as top-weight, he was the first to carry the heaviest burden since Arkloin in 1966.
Class can often be a positive factor, though. Along with David Pipe’s dual winner, four other horses have won the race carrying 11st 3lb or more since 2014, while only two horses have carried fewer than 10st 5lb since 2006. Those at the bottom of the handicap often find these deeper waters more difficult to swim in, although that wasn’t the case for Corach Rambler last year, winning off just 10st 2lbs.
Similarly, given there were handicap winners at the Festival priced 50/1 and 40/1 last season, Vintage Clouds’ 28/1 success in this was an anomaly. Before him, no horse priced above 11/1 had been successful since 2013, so the bookmakers usually have a fair understanding of who is likely to win, albeit Coo Star Sivola and Wichita Lineman are the only favourites, outright or joint, to be victorious since the turn of the millennium.
2023 Ultima Handicap Chase Prize Money
Connections of 2022 winner Corach Rambler landed over £70,000 for last year’s success, with prize money given to the top eight runners.
The prize pot for the 2023 renewal is £125,000.
Ultima Handicap Chase History
This is a genuine test for handicap chasers, as proven by the fact that only three horses have ever won this race more than once. Combine that with only two jockeys having won the race three times (Robert Thornton and Tom Scudamore), and two trainers having won four each (Fred Rimell and Fulke Walwyn), and you can see how well this prize has been spread around.
This is often seen as an excellent race to take in before a tilt at the Grand National. Five horses have gone on to win a Grand National off the back of this race, although only Seagram has done so in the same season. Team Spirit, West Tip and Rough Quest would have to wait a year before Aintree glory, with Royal Tan’s two years after his win here.
With fewer horses rising through the ranks of handicaps, and indeed fewer Grade 1 horses competing in such races, the Ultima has not produced as many Gold Cup runners/winners as it used to. No fewer than four winners of this race in the 1950s went on to win a Gold Cup, while Charter Party did so in the 1980s. More recently, only Holywell has gone on from this race to go close in a Gold Cup when fourth in 2015.
Unlike so many races to have fallen their way in recent history, there has remarkably been no Irish winner of this race for 16 years. Dun Doire was the last to do so for Tony Martin back in 2006, only a year more recently than one of few French winners at the Festival, Kelami for the now retired Francois Doumen.
Winners since 2000
| Year | Horse | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Marlborough | J: Mick Fitzgerald T:Nicky Henderson | 11/2 |
| 2001 | VOID | J:N/A T:N/A | VOID |
| 2002 | Frenchman’s Creek | J:Paul Carberry T:Hughie Morrison | 8/1 |
| 2003 | Youlneverwalkalone | J:Barry Geraghty T:Christy Roche | 7/1 |
| 2004 | Fork Lightning | J:Robert Thornton T:Alan King | 7/1 |
| 2005 | Kelami | J:Robert Thonrton T:Francois Doumen | 8/1 |
| 2006 | Dun Doire | J:Ruby Walsh T:Tony Martin | 7/1 |
| 2007 | Joes Edge | J:Davy Russell T:Ferdy Murphy | 50/1 |
| 2008 | An Accordion | J:Tom Scudamore T:David Pipe | 7/1 |
| 2009 | Wichita Lineman | J:Tony McCoy T:Jonjo O’Neill | 5/1F |
| 2010 | Chief Dan George | J:Paddy Aspell T:James Moffatt | 33/1 |
| 2011 | Bensalem | J:Robert Thornton T:Alan King | 5/1 |
| 2012 | Alfie Sherrin | J:Richie McLernon T:Jonjo O’Neill | 14/1 |
| 2013 | Golden Chieftain | J:Brendan Powell Jr T:Colin Tizzard | 28/1 |
| 2014 | Holywell | J:Richie McLernon T:Jonjo O’Neill | 10/1 |
| 2015 | The Druids Nephew | J:Barry Geraghty T:Neil Mulholland | 8/1 |
| 2016 | Un Temps Pour Tout | J:Tom Scudamore T:David Pipe | 11/1 |
| 2017 | Un Temps Pour Tout | J:Tom Scudamore T:David Pipe | 9/1 |
| 2018 | Coo Star Sivola | J:Lizzie Kelly T:Nick Williams | 5/1F |
| 2019 | Beware The Bear | J:Jeremiah McGrath T:Nicky Henderson | 10/1 |
| 2020 | The Conditional | J:Brendan Powell Jr T:David Bridgwater | 15/2 |
| 2021 | Vintage Clouds | J:Ryan Mania T:Sue Smith | 28/1 |
| 2022 | Corach Rambler | J:Derek Fox T:Lucinda Russell | 10/1 |