The Cheltenham Hunters Chase, run as the St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase this year, is a race over the Gold Cup course for amateur riders. It was first run in 1904 and soon became established as the Amateur’s Gold Cup. To qualify for the race a horse must finish first or second in two hunter chases, win two point-to-point races or win a point-to-point and finish first or second in a hunter chase. Nine horses have won the race twice with the most recent being Salsify (2012, 2013), On The Fringe (2015, 2016) and Pacha Du Polder (2017, 2018).
The most famous winner of the Hunters Chase was Grittar in 1981 who won the Aintree Grand National the following season. Spartan Missile (1979) famously finished second to Aldaniti at Aintree while other notable winners include Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Rushing Wild (1982) and Earthmover (1998, 2004), successful for a second time at the age of 13.
Hunters’ Chase Odds and Entries 2026
A strong list of Hunters’ Chase entries is expected to include the likes of three-time runner-up Its On The Line among others.
Betting on the Festival Hunters’ Chase
The St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase is restricted to amateur riders and takes place immediately after the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Billaway finally gained a victory in this race in 2022 after finishing runner-up for the previous two seasons. He was the fourth winning favourite in the last twelve years in a race which has produced its fair share of surprises.
The biggest shocks of all were provided by It Came To Pass and Premier Magic, both of whom started at 66-1 in the Festival Hunters Chase betting in 2020 and 2023 respectivaly. Zemsky won at 33-1 in 2011 and Pacha Du Polder was a 25-1 chance when gaining his second victory in 2018. He was ridden by Bryony Frost in 2017 and Harriet Tucker in 2018 after a fast-finishing fifth in 2016 when ridden by Olympic Gold winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton.
If you are having a bet on the Festival Hunters’ Chase you should look for an experienced jumper with winning form in the current season. Sine Nomine was the first horse aged under ten to win in the past decade when successful in 2024.
Hunters’ Chase News
The Cheltenham Hunters’ Chase is a huge race in the amateur racing calendar, but news at this stage is thin on the ground given that the entries for the race are yet to be published. Once they are, we will look into the biggest headlines surrounding the race.