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Christie's Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup
Race Conditions
The Christies Foxhunter Chase (4:00 pm) is a Class B chase run over three miles and about two and a half furlongs. It is open to horses aged five years old and upwards who have met various qualifying criteria. The total prize fund is £40,000.
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Recent Winners
The Foxhunters is the amateur riders Gold Cup and the highlight of the hunter chase season. However, major stables are frequently represented in the race and not just the traditional point to point trainers.
The race is run over the course and distance of the Gold Cup and has been won by some top class steeplechasers in recent years most notably Double Silk, Kingscliff and Sleeping Night.
The field tends to be a combination of older experienced chasers nearing retirement and young pretenders from the point to point circuit looking to make the leap to racing under rules. One horse, in particular, epitomizes this mix, having won the race at both ends of his career.
Earthmover bust on to the scene when winning the 1998 renewal and he went on to compete for many of the biggest prizes in the sport. He then returned to hunter chasing in the twilight of his career and sprung something of an upset when winning this race for the second time aged thirteen in 2004.
| Year | Horse | Age | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Cappa Bleu | 7 | Mrs Edward Crow | 11/2 |
| 2008 | Amicelli | 9 | Mrs C A Coward | 33/1 |
| 2007 | Drombeag | 9 | Jonjo O'Neill | 20/1 |
| 2006 | Whyso Mayo | 9 | R Hurley | 20/1 |
| 2005 | Sleeping Night | 9 | P Nicholls | 7/2F |
| 2004 | Earthmover | 13 | P Nicholls | 14/1 |
| 2003 | Kingscliff | 6 | Mrs Sally Alner | 11/4F |
| 2002 | Last Option | 10 | R Tate | 20/1 |
| 2000 | Cavalero | 11 | H Manners | 16/1 |
| 1999 | Castle Mane | 7 | Mrs Caroline Bailey | 9/2 |
| 1998 | Earthmover | 7 | R Barber | 3/1 |
| 1997 | Fantus | 10 | R Barber | 10/1 |
| 1996 | Elegant Lord | 8 | E Bolger | 3/1F |
| 1995 | Fantus | 8 | R Barber | 3/1F |
| 1994 | Double Silk | 10 | R Wilkins | 2/5F |
| 1993 | Double Silk | 9 | R Wilkins | 12/1 |
| 1992 | Rushing Wild | 7 | R Barber | 9/1 |
| 1991 | Lovely Citizen | 8 | E M O’Sullivan | 14/1 |
| 1990 | Call Collect | 9 | J Parkes | 7/4F |
| 1989 | Three Counties | 12 | M Rimell | 6/1 |
(prior winners detailed at bottom of page)
Key Trends
17 of the last 19 winners were aged ten or younger.
19 of the last 24 winners won last time out.
6 of the last 9 winners have started at odds of 14/1+.
2010 Foxhunters Chase Preview
Qualification for this year’s Foxhunters has been thrown into turmoil by the bad weather this winter, with many of the scheduled hunter chases having to be abandoned. Consequently, picking the winner of the amateurs’ Gold Cup may be even harder than usual.
Apart from the winner, the first eight home in last year’s race all look set to take part again.
Although Turthen was second, it was the third home, Baby Run, who looks to have the best chance this time around. He won the Champion Hunter Chase at Punchestown at the back end of last season and has already proved his well being this year with a nice win at Warwick recently.
2008 winner, Amicelli, was fourth last season and should be competitive again granted some decent ground, whilst Robbers Glen, who finished fifth, has been in cracking form this season and could be a real threat provided he can keep up with the early place. He stays all day and is lightly raced enough to still be improving, but needs to recover from a hard race last time out.
As usual the entries represent a mix of up and coming, young point to pointers, and seasoned handicappers reaching their veteran stage and being revived by a spell hunting.
Roulez Cool and Sericina head those that fall into the former category.
Roulez Cool was decent in France and ran very well in a couple of handicaps in this country before switching to pointing. His form in those handicaps compares favourably with the best efforts of most of these.
Sericina impressed with the way she travelled when winning her only start under rules to date in a hunter chase at Taunton in February. She is only lightly raced and looks decent.
Of those in the latter category, Bob Hall always looked like a horse capable of winning a big race but could never quite get his head in front. He beat Nicanor in his early days over hurdles and has run well here in the past. He also likes decent ground and his three wins in hunter chases so far this season should have put him spot on for this.
Joaaci also threatened to reach the top over fences for the Pipe yard, but lost his way and was sent hunting in an effort to rekindle his enthusiasm. The move seems to have done the trick and he could run well at a big price.
Likewise, Unowatimeen seemed to have a big future ahead of him when beating Barber’s Shop in a novice hurdle at Market Rasen in 2007, but has been plagued by injury since. He was beaten by Vicario on his hunter chase debut in February, but can turn that form around over this longer trip.
Another former top class handicapper, Dun Doire, heads the Irish challenge - he won the William Hill Handicap here in 2006. He has plenty of miles on the clock, but recent performances suggest that he still has a big performance or two in him.
Finally, Having A Cut is also interesting. He was third in the Fox Hunters’ at Aintree (a race won by Trust Fund with Le Duc fifth), but is very lightly raced and so capable of further improvement. He is also very happy on decent spring ground, and represents powerful connections, but was disappointing on his reappearance.
CONCLUSION: A tougher than usual renewal to predict. Baby Run looks best of those who ran in last year’s contest, but he just got outstayed up the hill that day and may do again here.
Roulez Cool could be a class above these, but that is factored into his price so, in an open contest, it may prove best to side with something at longer odds and the lightly raced UNOWATIMEEN is the tentative selection. Bob Hall should also run well.
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Race Facts
1. The Christie’s Foxhunter Chase is one of the oldest races at the Festival. The first running in 1904 was won by the 6/4 favourite Palmy Boy, owned and ridden by Mr J Widger. It is now one of the richest and most prestigious hunter chases of the season, worth a total of £40,000.
2. In 2010, Christie’s, the international auctioneers and valuation experts, will be sponsoring the race for the 32nd year (including the 2001 cancelled contest).
3. Since 1946 six horses have won the Foxhunter Chase twice although no horse has won it three times. The Callant won in 1956 and 1957, Whinstone Hill in 1958 and 1960, Colledge Master in 1961 and 1962, Double Silk in 1993 and 1994, Fantus in 1995 and 1997 and Earthmover in 1998 and 2004.
4. Caroline Beasley became the first female jockey to win a race at The Festival when successful on Eliogarty in the 1983 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase. Since then the race has been won four times by women - Katie Rimell on Three Counties in 1989, Polly Curling on Fantus in 1995 , Fiona Needham in 2002 on Last Option and Rilly Goschen on Earthmover in 2004.
5. Three of the five 13-year-olds to have been successful at The Festival since 1946 have come in the Christie’s Foxhunter Chase - Earthmover in 2004, Merry, who dead-heated in 1953 and Greenwood in 1950. The other two 13-year-olds to have won were Approval in the 1959 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle and Willie Wumpkins in the 1981 Pertemps Final. They are the oldest horses to have succeeded at The Festival in this period.
6. The Christie’s Foxhunter Chase is the only race at The Festival open to trainers who are not full-time professionals or hold a permit to train their family’s horses.
7. The Christie’s Foxhunter Chase is one of three races for amateur riders at The Festival – the others are the National Hunt Chase and the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Chase.
8. There have been four Irish-trained winners since Eliogarty won in 1983 – the others being Attitude Adjuster in 1986, Lovely Citizen in 1991 and Whyso Mayo in 2006.
2009 Foxhunters Chase Review
It has been a while since this race threw up a decent recruit to the professional ranks, but in winning impressively here the well touted seven year old, CAPPA BLEU gave the impression that he might be go on to bigger and better things when he joins Evan Williams’ yard next season.
He travelled and jumped well throughout, but a mixture of inexperience and tiredness meant that he wasn’t able to put the race to bed until the final 100 yards.
With only a handful of runs under his belt to date, there is scope for a good deal of improvement, but one slight concern was the time of the race, which was nearly 10 seconds slower than the Gold Cup. For all his potential, he has some way to go before being able to mix it with the big boys.
Turthen chased the winner all the way up the straight, but got very tired after the last. He has enjoyed his switch from Paul Nicholls’ yard to the pointing scene and he deserved to hang on to second.
Baby Run was third. Despite being nine, he has had only sixteen career starts to date and in that time has only been out of the first three once. He has clearly had his problems, but retains plenty of ability and pulled nicely clear of last year’s winner, Amicelli, who was fourth.
Robbers Glen, the champion novice hunter last season, stayed on strongly up the hill to finish a never nearer fifth.
Juveigneur who won the Kim Muir here in 2005 and went off favourite on the back of three wins in Irish points, made mistakes at the 16th and 17th fences and could never get competitive thereafter. He eventually came home in twelve.
Another former top class chaser and well backed runner, Royal Auclair crashed out at the seventh.
2008 Foxhunters Chase Review
A competitive field, but not a particularly classy one, lined up for this year’s renewal of the amateurs’ Gold Cup and the openness of the contest was reflected by the bookies who went 5-1 the field.
It perhaps wasn’t surprising, therefore, that the race should fall to an outsider and 33-1 shot, AMICELLI, was certainly one of the least fancied runners in the field. The nine year old gelding was formerly trained by Philip Hobbs, for whom he won over both hurdles and fences.
Since changing stables, he has been unbeaten in two point to points and maintained that unbeaten record here with a well earned success. He was never far from the front throughout this three and a quarter mile contest and could be called the winner from some way out as his more fancied rivals took it in terms to fall by the wayside. The winner was clear going to the last, which he brushed through, and although tiring up the hill, he was never going to be caught.
It was left to Bon Accord to chase Amicelli home. The runner up came here on the back of six consecutive wins (including a previous success at Cheltenham on his only previous start under rules) and this was another fine effort from him here. At eight years of age he would have a chance of improving on this result next year if he stays in one piece.
The veteran, Arctic Times, a prolific point to point winner in Ireland, ran a cracker in third. All his does is stay and he got tapped for toe when the winner made his move running down to the second from home.
Climate Control set the pace for much of the way, but faded on the climb up the hill as his stamina seemed to give way.
A number of the fancied runners disappointed badly, none more so than the favourite, Agus A Vic. He beat Climate Control last time out and so this clearly wasn’t his running and he didn’t help his chances here by jumping right at a number of fences. He was eventually pulled up.
Last year’s winner, Drombeag, was another to perform well below his best as he was already out of the contention when the field freewheeled down the hill for the final time. He’s very lightly raced and clearly isn’t easy to train.
2007 Foxhunters Chase Review
Another big price winner for the powerful team of Jonjo O’Neill and JP McManus as DROMBEAG followed up Butler’s Cabin’s 33-1 success in the National Hunt Chase with a 20-1 success here. The horse was prominent throughout this Gold Cup for amateur riders and battled on gamely to win a race in which only four horses had a realistic chance of success turning for home.
It was a great training performance by Jonjo, not only because this was Drombeag’s first start of the season, but also because the horse had badly lost his form since flopping when one of the favourites for this contest last year.
In winning here, Drombeag turned the tables on Whyso Mayo who put up a bold effort to defend the crown he secured last season. However, the chances of the 2006 champion were badly hampered by some awful jumping (most notably at the first and the last) and Whyso Mayo would surely have won with a clear round
Ned Kelly and Bica were the other two in contention at the business end of the race.
Ned Kelly was an ante post favourite for the Champion Hurdle in his younger days, but his career has been blighted by injury since, so it was good to see him running well back at the Festival. He was travelling best of all coming down the hill, but as you’d expect from this former top class two mile hurdler, his stamina didn’t last out and the front two had pulled well clear of him at the finish.
Bica’s challenge also faded up the Cheltenham hill, but he is only seven and so has time on his side. He may also prefer softer ground.
He actually finished fifth in the end – passed by Oscar India in the dying strides. Oscar India is another of the younger brigade of hunter chasers and so should be back next year to resume battle with the likes of Drombeag, Bica and Patches (who was well backed here but fell early on).
2006 Foxhunters Chase Review
Although this year’s Foxhunter’s was short on quality, the amateur riders’ Gold Cup was high on excitement with the race producing one of the best finishes of the week. The first five home (all of whom are trained in Ireland) were covered by only six lengths. Indeed, the first eleven were separated by less than 12 lengths.
WHYSO MAYO was the horse to emerge from the bunch on top. The nine year has won plenty of point to points in his time, but looked to be relatively exposed under Rules, which suggests the form is nothing special. The second, First Down Jets, and third, Joe Blake, are also experienced and exposed performers.
If there are a couple of performances worth taking out of the race, they are probably those of the seven year old Bothar Na, in fourth, and Savati, who is a year younger and finished fifth. Both have time on their side and should improve.
Drombeag is also probably better than his finishing position suggests. He was hampered at the first and let down by his jumping when trying to close on the leaders.
Bosham Mill possibly failed to stay.
The class horse of the race, Harbour Pilot, was bitterly disappointing. He made a terrible mistake at the seventh and was eventually pulled up when tailed off.
Roll of Honour (1946-1988)
(recent winners detailed towards top of page)
Year Winner Age/Wt Jockey Trainer SP
1988 Certain Light 10-12-00 Mr Paul Hacking Jean Campbell Jean Campbell 10/1
1987 Observe 11-12-00 Mr Charlie Brooks Fred Winter R Bott (Wigmore St) Ltd 14/1
1986 Attitude Adjuster 6-12-00 Mr Ted Walsh Mouse Morris IRE Sue Magnier 10/1
1985 Elmboy 7-12-00 Mr Alan Hill Norman Mawle Norman Mawle 10/1
1984 Venture To Cognac 11-12-00 Mr Oliver Sherwood Fred Winter Nat Sherwood 7/1
1983 Eliogarty 8-12-00 Miss Caroline Beasley Barry Kelly IRE Caroline Beasley 3/1F
1982 The Drunken Duck 9-12-00 Mr Brod Munro-Wilson Brod Munro-Wilson Brod Munro-Wilson 12/1
1981 Grittar 8-12-00 Mr Dick Saunders Frank Gilman Frank Gilman 12/1
1980 Rolls Rambler 9-12-00 Mr Oliver Sherwood Fred Winter B Braziel 9/4
1979 Spartan Missile 7-12-00 Mr John Thorne John Thorne John Thorne 9/4F
1978 Timmie’s Battle 7-12-00 Mr Peter Greenall Arthur Stephenson G Deverell 7/2
1977 Long Lane 9-11-11 Mr Richard Shepherd Richard Shepherd Richard Shepherd 9/4F
1976 False Note 10-11-09 Mr Bryan Smart John Horton John Horton 11/4F
1975 Real Rascal 12-11-10 Mr George Hyatt Barbara Surman Barbara Surman 8/1
1974 Corrie Burn 8-12-00 Mr Ian Williams George Fairbairn Joanna Fairbairn 20/1
1973 Bullocks Horn 10-12-00 Lord Oaksey Bob Turnell Mrs E Barker 5/1
1972 Credit Call 8-12-00 Mr Chris Collins Arthur Stephenson Chris Collins 7/4F
1971 Hope Again 9-11-07 Mr Richard Smith Denis Windell Denis Windell 16/1
1970 Highworth 11-11-07 Mr R H Woodhouse R H Woodhouse R H Woodhouse 15/2
1969 Queens Guide 8-11-07 Mr G Wade Willie Wade Willie Wade 10/1
1968 Bright Beach 8-11-11 Mr Charlie Macmillan Geordie Dun Geordie Dun 5/1
1967 Mulbarton 11-12-00 Mr Nick Gaselee I H Pattullo I H Pattullo EvsF
1966 Straight Lady 10-11-07 Mr Richard Shepherd William Shepherd William Shepherd 100/8
1965 Woodside Terrace 12-11-07 Mr R Woodhouse R Woodhouse R Woodhouse 33/1
1964 Freddie 7-11-07 Mr Alan Mactaggart Reg Tweedie Reg Tweedie 1/3F
1963 Grand Morn II 9-12-00 Mr R Bloomfield G Shepheard G Shepheard 15/2
1962 Colledge Master12-12-00 Mr Laurie Morgan Laurie Morgan Laurie Morgan 9/2
1961 Colledge Master11-12-00 Mr Laurie Morgan Laurie Morgan Laurie Morgan 7/2
1960 Whinstone Hill 11-12-00 Mr Bobby Brewis Bobby Brewis Bobby Brewis 11/8F
1959 Some Baby 10-12-00 Mr John Thorne Tim Rootes Tim Rootes 100/8
1958 Whinstone Hill 9-12-00 Mr Bobby Brewis Bobby Brewis Bobby Brewis 7/1
1957 The Callant 9-12-00 Mr John Scott-Aiton Stewart Wight C D Scott 10/11F
1956 The Callant 8-12-00 Mr John Scott-Aiton Stewart Wight C D Scott 11/8F
1955 Abandoned (snow)
1954 Happymint 9-12-00 Mr Danny Moralee Stewart Wight Danny Moralee 7/1
1953 DH Dunboy II 9-12-00 Mr Charlie Scott P Bruce Miss P Bruce 3/1F
1953 DH Merry 13-12-00 Mr Gay Kindersley Alec Kerr John Baillie 100/7
1952 Parasol II 7-12-00 Mr Ivor Kerwood A Walton A Walton 8/1
1951 Halloween 6-12-00 Mr Dickie Smalley Bill Wightman Captain Dick Smalley 11/8F
1950 Greenwood 13-12-00 Mr John Stuart-Evans J T Evans J T Evans 100/7
1949 Abandoned (frost)
1948 State Control 8-12-00 Mr Harry Llewellyn Harry Llewellyn Harry Llewellyn 7/2F
1947 Lucky Purchase 9-12-00 Mr John Nichols Sidney Banks Sidney Banks 7/1
1946 Iloilo 9-12-00 Mr Harry Freeman-Jackson Harry Freeman-Jackson Mrs Harry Freeman-Jackson 6/1