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
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 S 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	9	R Wilkins	12/1

Key Trends

The last 4 winners were aged 9.

6 of the last 8 winners have started at 14/1+.

Watch the 2008 Foxhunters Chase:

2007 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 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.