The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase remains entirely unique in the British racing calendar. No other track has a course to compare with the banks and cheese wedges seen across the centre of Prestbury Park at the Cheltenham Festival. Often a race won by a course specialist, find out who GG’s experts are tipping for this visual spectacular.
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Steve Chambers’ Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase Tips
15:20 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (A Limited Handicap) (GBB Race)
Last year’s winner Stumptown can return to glory again according to Steve Chambers. His layoff since successful in the Velka Pardubicka in Czechia looks a wise move and he was impressive here a year ago.
Joe Napier’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase Tips
15:20 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (A Limited Handicap) (GBB Race)
Result
2nd 2/1F
Joe Napier is siding with recent course and distance hero Favori De Champdou. Gordon Elliott’s charge was a ready winner over the banks course in January under 12st and can defy an 8lb ratings rise.
Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase Bookmaker Odds Race 4 – Day 2 @ Wednesday 11 March 3.20pm
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All About The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase Trophy in 2026
The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is a specialist’s race but is getting classier all the time. A lot of that is down to three-time winner Tiger Roll, but his stablemate Delta Work also helped grow the race’s profile.
The field includes defending champion Stumptown, while Favori De Champdou and Latenightpass have also won over Cheltenham’s unique Banks course.
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Qualifications/Trends
Can Tiger Roll be a trend by himself? Three wins and two seconds in the five renewals he contested meant he was always value for money even when going off at a short price.
Though it is, like many of the open races, for five-year-olds and upwards, Easysland was bucking a serious trend when winning as a six-year-old in 2020. Few horses of that age group have ever contested the race and it has regularly paid to look for vast experience.
Both Native Jack and A New Story have been second at the age of 14 in this race, while the latter and Uncle Junior even competed aged 15. 12-year-olds are also the second most successful age group with three wins.
That said, there has not been a winner of that age since 2010 and Tiger Roll was the first winner aged into double figures since 2015 when claiming his third Cross Country Chase (Any Currency was 13 when disqualified in 2016).
The race has, of course been subject to change. It was a handicap until 2015, with level weights introduced from 2016 onwards. Perhaps that is the reason for the younger horses faring slightly better.
As such, aside from age, there is little to compare all runnings from the first in 2005. Of those that have been conditions races, no horse has been priced at greater than 7/1 and that was, incredibly, Tiger Roll when he won his first in 2018. Despite the unpredictable nature of the track, results are often staring you in the face.
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Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase History
From its introduction in 2005 up to 2015, the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase was run as a handicap at the Cheltenham Festival. That was no obstacle for three top-weights to come home in front in that period, however.
One of those was the inaugural winner, Spot Thedifference, who ticks a lot of historic boxes in this race. He was one of seven winners in the race for J P McManus and one of five for Enda Bolger. A banks specialist as a trainer, he has also sent out Heads Ontheground, Garde Champetre (twice) and Josies Orders to win. The last-named is his only winner so far since the race became a conditions contest.
Spot Thedifference’s rider was J T McNamara. The great amateur jockey begun an excellent record for non-professionals in the Cross Country, with six wins in the race.
One such amateur took four of those six successes. Long before Rachael Blackmore and Bryony Frost, Miss Nina Carberry was setting standards and breaking glass ceilings. Those four wins make her the most successful in the race’s history.
The Cross Country returns to being a handicap in 2025, but that did not mean that the open renewals were any lacking in drama. Nobody will forget Tiger Roll’s exceptional Cheltenham Festival record in a hurry – he won this race three times and was agonisingly denied a fourth win in the race when stablemate Delta Work snatched his first victory in the race in 2022.
Winners since 2000
| Year | Horse | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Spot Thedifference | J: J T McNamara T:Enda Bolger | 4/1 |
| 2006 | Native Jack | J:Davy Russell T:P J Rothwell | 7/2J |
| 2007 | Heads Onthe Ground | J:Nina Carberry T: Enda Bolger | 5/2F |
| 2008 | Garde Champetre | J:Nina Carberry T:Enda Bolger | 4/1 |
| 2009 | Garde Champetre | J:Nina Carberry T:Enda Bolger | 7/2 |
| 2010 | A New Story | J:Adrian Heskin T:Michael Hourigan | 25/1 |
| 2011 | Sizing Australia | J:Andrew Lynch T:Henry De Bromhead | 13/2 |
| 2012 | Balthazar King | J:Richard Johnson T:Philip Hobbs | 11/2 |
| 2013 | Big Shu | J:Barry Cash T:Peter Maher | 14/1 |
| 2014 | Balthazar King | J:Richard Johnson T:Philip Hobbs | 4/1 |
| 2015 | Rivage d’Or | J:Davy Russell T:Tony Martin | 16/1 |
| 2016 | Josies Orders | J:Nina Carberry T:Enda Bolger | 15/8F |
| 2017 | Cause Of Causes | J:Jamie Codd T:Gordon Elliott | 4/1 |
| 2018 | Tiger Roll | J:Keith Donoghue T:Gordon Elliott | 7/1 |
| 2019 | Tiger Roll | J:Keith Donoghue T:Gordon Elliott | 5/4F |
| 2020 | Easysland | J:Jonathan Plouganou T:David Cottin | 3/1 |
| 2021 | Tiger Roll | J:Keith Donoghue T:Gordon Elliott | 9/2 |
| 2022 | Delta Work | J:Jack Kennedy T:Gordon Elliott | 5/2F |
| 2023 | Delta Work | J:Keith Donoghue T:Gordon Elliott | 11/10F |
| 2024 | Race Abandoned | Race Abandoned | N/A |
| 2025 | Stumptown | J:Keith Donoghue T:Gavin Cromwell | 5/2F |
| 2026 | Final Orders | J:Conor Stone-Walsh T:Gavin Cromwell | 7/1 |
Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Racing Schedule
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