The 2015 Cotswold Chase looks set to be informative with Gold Cup hopefuls Holywell, Smad Place, Dynaste, Many Clouds , The Giant Bolster, and Smad Place entered.
The race is registered as the Cotswold Chase and is run in late January at Festival Trials day at Cheltenham. It is run over three miles one and a half furlongs and has Grade 2 status.
The inaugral running of the race in 1980 was won by the Nicky Henderson trained Raffi Nelson under Steve Smith Eccles. The roll of honour includes Gold Cup Winners Little Owl (1981), Master Oats (1995), See More Business (1998) , Looks like Trouble (2000) and the Champion Chase winner One Man.
Argento Chase Stats 2003-2014
- the last 7 winners have been aged 9/10
- the last 8 winners had an OR of 151+
- Paul Nicholls has trained 2 of the last 5 winners and is the most sucessful trainer in the history of the race with 4 wins
- This is poor race for favourites – none have won since Cyfor Malta in 1999
- Tony McCoy has ridden two winners since 2007
- Steve Smith Eccles and Tony McCoy are the most successful jockeys in the race’s history with three wins each
- The Ted Walsh trained Rince Ri (2002) has been the only Irish trained winner of the race
- A breakdown of winners by age is 6yos one win, 7yos seven wins, 8yos nine wins, 9yos eight wins,10 yos four wins, 11yos three wins
Argento Chase Winners 2003-2014
| YEAR | FORM | HORSE | AGE | WGT | LTO | TRAINER | JOCKEY | OR | SP |
| 2014 | The Giant Bolster | 9 | 11-0 | 31 | David Bridgewater | T Scudamore | 157 | 6-1 | |
| 2013 | 051 | Cape Tribulation | 9 | 11-6 | 31 | JM Jefferson | DF O’Regan | 151 | 7-1 |
| 2012 | 5F3 | Midnight Chase | 10 | 11-6 | 33 | NP Mulholland | DC Costello | 158 | 11-2 |
| 2011 | 4B0 | Neptune Collonges (Fr) | 10 | 11-0 | 50 | PF Nicholls | AP McCoy | 162 | 11-2 |
| 2010 | 14P | Taranis (Fr) | 9 | 11-0 | 766 | PF Nicholls | N Scholfield | 153 | 16-1 |
| 2009 | 316 | Joe Lively (Ire) | 10 | 11-6 | 28 | CL Tizzard | J Tizzard | 153 | 11-1 |
| 2008 | 35P | Knowhere (Ire) | 10 | 11-4 | 42 | NA Twiston-Davies | PJ Brennan | 153 | 16-1 |
| 2007 | 112 | Exotic Dancer (Fr) | 7 | 11-6 | 32 | Jonjo O’Neill | AP McCoy | 167 | 6-1 |
| 2006 | 245 | See You Sometime | 11 | 11-5 | 32 | JW Mullins | A Thornton | 138 | 18-1 |
| 2005 | 111 | Grey Abbey (Ire) | 11 | 11-10 | 90 | Howard Johnson | G Lee | 163 | 10-3 |
| 2004 | 11P | Jair du Cochet (Fr) | 7 | 11-10 | 29 | G Macaire | J Ricou | – | 11-4 |
| 2003 | P61 | Behrajan (Ire) | 8 | 11-6 | 35 | HD Daly | R Johnson | 164 | 9-2 |
COTSWOLD CHASE HISTORY AND TRIVIA
The BetBright Cup Chase was first run in 1980 as the Tote Double Chase with a total prize fund of £5,215. The race was abandoned in 1987, 1992 (frost), 1996 (frost and snow) and 2006 (frost – a replacement was run at Wincanton the following Thursday).
The contest has had nine sponsors since it’s inception: Tote Double Chase (1980-84), Holsten Distributions Chase (1985-87), Charterhouse Mercantile Chase (1988-92), Timeform Hall of Fame Chase (1993-94), Pillar Property Investments Chase (1995-2005), HBLB Cotswold Chase (2006), Letheby And Christopher Chase (2007-09) and Argento (2010-2014). BetBright sponsors for the first time in 2015.
It held Grade Two status for the first time in 1999 and carries a total prize fund of
£100,000 in 2015.
FIELD SIZE
The most runners to line up was 10 (2013), while three took part in 1982 and 1988.
MULTIPLE WINNERS
See More Business is the only dual winner, scoring in both 1998 and 2001.
MOST SUCCESSFUL OWNER
The most successful outright owner is John Hales, with two victories courtesy of One Man (1997) and Neptune Collonges (2011). Paul Barber owned dual winner See More Business (1998 and 2011) in partnerships with John Keighley and Sir Robert Ogden respectively. The last-named also saw his colours carried to victory by Exotic Dancer (2007).
MOST SUCCESSFUL TRAINER
Eight-time champion Jump trainer Paul Nicholls has recorded four victories so far, with See More Business (1998 & 2001), Taranis (2010) and Neptune Collonges (2011).
MOST SUCCESSFUL JOCKEY
Tony (A P) McCoy is the most successful rider with three triumphs – Cyfor Malta (1999), Exotic Dancer (2007) and Neptune Collonges (2011).
The only amateur rider to win is Jim Wilson, who partnered Little Owl in 1981. The pair followed up in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup seven weeks later.
MARES
Two mares have been successful – Lesley Ann (1982) and Dubacilla (1994).
GREYS
Three greys have won – One Man (1997), Grey Abbey (2005) and Neptune Collonges (2011).
BETTING
The race was staged at Wincanton in 2006 after Cheltenham could not race. The Seamus Mullins-trained See You Sometime was sent off the 18/1 outsider of five and is the longest-priced winner. The shortest-priced winner was One Man, who obliged at odds of 2/5 in 1997.
Favourites have gained success in just seven of the 32 runnings (21.88 per cent). The most recent market leader to prevail was the Martin Pipe-trained Cyfor Malta in 1999.
AGE
See More Business (2001), Grey Abbey (2005) and See You Sometime (2006) are the three oldest winners of the BetBright Cup Chase – all were aged 11. At the other end of the spectrum, six-year-old Cyfor Malta was the youngest horse to score in 1999.
A breakdown of the winners by age is as follows: 6yo – 1
7yo – 7
8yo – 9
9yo – 8
10yo – 4
11yo – 3
RECORD TIME
6m 24.20s, set by One Man in 1997.
OVERSEAS-TRAINED WINNERS
IRELAND (1): Rince Ri (2002)
FRANCE (1): Jair Du Cochet (2004)
DID YOU KNOW?
Four BetBright Cup Chase winners have subsequently gone on to glory in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Peter Easterby-trained Little Owl won the BetBright Cup Chase in 1981 before taking chasing’s Blue Riband in the same year. Master Oats achieved the same feat for trainer Kim Bailey in 1995. See More Business, successful in the 1998 BetBright Cup Chase and then again in 2001, captured the Gold Cup in 1999, while Looks Like Trouble achieved the double in 2000 for trainer Noel Chance.
Dawn Run, who won one of the most memorable renewals Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1986, ran in the BetBright Cup Chase prior to her famous victory. Starting the 4/9 favourite, the great mare looked to be well in command when unseating her rider Tony Mullins at the 16th fence. She was remounted to finish fourth behind Misty Spirit. She returned to Cheltenham in March to land chasing’s championship event, becoming the only horse to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Two BetBright Cup Chase winners have gone on to win the Crabbie’s Grand National at Aintree, with West Tip (1985) and Neptune Collonges (2011) both succeeding the year after their Cheltenham triumph.
Cheltenham Festival Race Stats and Trends
