The 2012 Kingmaker Chase at Warwick was lost to the weather and the race is often overshadowed by the Totesport Gold Trophy meeting run at Newbury on the same day.The race is a Grade 2 run over two miles and being restricted to novices provides one of the last trials for potential Arkle Trophy Chase candidates.
Paul Nicholls Vibrato Valtat heads the 2015 entries. Dan Downie, racing manger for his owners, the Axom syndicate, said: “He’s really good and he’s a horse that doesn’t take a lot out of himself in his races.The plan with him is to go for the Kingmaker and then it will be straight to the Arkle.”
The roll of honour includes high profile winners ( not necessarily in the Arkle !) at the Cheltenham Festival including Champion Chasers Finians Rainbow, Voy Por Ustedes and Flagship Ubarelles. The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Long Run won the 2010 renewal.
The ” Kingmaker” name doesn’t reference a great horse of the past but rather the 16th Earl of Warwick, who was known as the “Kingmaker” during the Wars of the Roses.
Kingmaker Chase Trends
- Nicky Henderson has trained 2 of the last 4 winners
- Paul Nicholls has trained 4 winners since 1999 but none since 2004
- Gauvain was a surpise winner at 8-1 in 2009. All other winners were priced 7-2 or less in the last decade
- Horses aged between 5 and 7 have won all but one renewal since 1999
- Voy Por Ustedes was the last horse to double up in the Arkle
Kingmaker Chase Winners 2002-2014
| Date | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Age | Weight | OR | Odds |
| 2014 | Balder Succes | Wayne Hutchinson | Alan King | 6 | 11-7 | 145 | 6-5F |
| 2013 | Majala | Jason Maguire | Tom George | 7 | 11-7 | 147 | 2-1 |
| 2012 | No race | ||||||
| 2011 | Finians Rainbow (IRE) | Tinkler, A | Henderson, N J | 8 | 11-4 | 156 | 2-5 |
| 2010 | Long Run (FR) | Waley-Cohen, Mr S | Henderson, N J | 5 | 11-5 | 161 | 4-7 |
| 2009 | Gauvain (GER) | Fehily, N | Mann, C J | 7 | 10-12 | 137 | 8-1 |
| 2008 | Kruguyrova (FR) | McCarthy, J A | Egerton, C R | 5 | 10-09 | 142 | 5-2 |
| 2007 | Ursis (FR) | Elsworth, D | Gollings, S | 6 | 11-3 | 0 | 7-2 |
| 2006 | Voy Por Ustedes (FR) | Thornton, R | King, A | 5 | 11-1 | 0 | 10-11 |
| 2005 | Kadount (FR) | Thornton, R | King, A | 7 | 11-7 | 134 | 2-1 |
| 2004 | Armaturk (FR) | Murphy, T | Nicholls, P F | 5 | 10-10 | 0 | 8-13 |
| 2003 | Whitenzo (FR) | Tizzard, Joe | Nicholls, P F | 5 | 10-12 | 138 | 7-4 |
| 2002 | Cenkos (FR) | McCarthy, J A | Sherwood, O | 6 | 11-11 | 140 | 11-2 |
| 2001 | Flagship Uberalles (IRE) | Thornton, R | Nicholls, P F | 5 | 11-0 | 0 | 9-4 |
| 2000 | Lake Kariba | Johnson, R | Nicholls, P F | 7 | 11-5 | 0 | 4-1 |
| 1999 | Mulligan (IRE) | Maguire, A | Nicholson, D | 7 | 11-12 | 0 | 5-6 |
Cheltenham Festival Race Stats and Trends
If you are a Cheltenham Festival fan we would love to get your views on our discussion forum. We have dedicated threads for all 27 races and will be gathering stats, quotes and tips in the Countdown to 10 March 2015.
