Foxhunter Steeplechase Betting Tips
- 15/03/2019
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Porlock Bay (red silks) denies Billaway (yellow) in a thrilling finish to the 2021 Foxhunters at the Cheltenham Festival.
Tips for the Foxhunter Steeplechase are the focus of this Cheltenham Festival 2023 racing preview.
This is the race that follows the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday afternoon from the final day of the Festival.
Our betting experts have all the statistics, trends and form covered by providing those essential Foxhunter Steeplechase tips for the 2023 renewal.
They will be on this page when we get closer to the Festival.
Who will follow on from the winner of last year’s renewal, Porlock Bay?
Foxhunter Steeplechase Tips – Overlooked Outsiders
This is an exciting feature of the Cheltenham Festival as the Foxhunter Steeplechase Challenge Cup is for amateur riders.
Because of that, and because the distance of this contest is the same as the Gold Cup, it’s informally referred to as the Amateurs Gold Cup.
It has not been uncommon for punters to have seen some bigger-priced winners in the Foxhunter Steeplechase land the win.
Just two years ago, It Came To Pass scored by defying some enormous 66/1 odds in this race.
Two years before that, in 2018, Pacha Du Polder landed the victory from a quote of 25/1.
So there will be some outsiders that warrant some respect in the latest Foxhunter Steeplechase odds.
As part of our Cheltenham Festival 2023 coverage, our tipsters will be looking at the best of them.
Foxhunter Steeplechase Runners – Friday, 18th March 4.10
| Horse | Silks | Trainer/Jockey | Odds |
| Billaway |  |
J: Patrick Mullins T: Willie Mullins |
5/2 |
| Winged Leader |  |
J: B O’Neill T: David Christie |
9/2 |
| Bob And Co |  |
J: David Maxwell T: Paul Nicholls |
6/1 |
| Pont Aven |  |
J: Alex Chadwick T: James Owen |
9/1 |
| Dubai Quest |  |
J: Gina Andrews T: Tom Ellis |
12/1 |
| Cousin Pascal |  |
J: James King T: Joe O’Shea |
14/1 |
| Fumet D’oudairies |  |
J: Zac Baker T: Tom Ellis |
16/1 |
| Premier Magic |  |
J: Bradley Gibbs T: Bradley Gibbs |
16/1 |
| Lord Schnitzel |  |
J: M C O’Donovan T: Declan Queally |
20/1 |
| It Came To Pass |  |
J: M O’Sullivan T: Eugene O’Sullivan |
22/1 |
| Mighty Stowaway |  |
J: J J Codd T: Gordon Elliott |
25/1 |
| Monbeg Chit Chat |  |
J: Christopher Furness T: G B Walford |
28/1 |
| Desire de Joie | |
J: Archie Wright T: N R Wright |
33/1 |
| Overworkdunderpaid |  |
J: George Chatterton T: L J Morgan |
33/1 |
| Don Bersy |  |
J: Tommie M O’Brien T: Ryan Potter |
50/1 |
| Point The Way |  |
J: Joe Wright T: G C Brewer |
50/1 |
| Senor Lombardy | |
J: Lyall Hodgins T: K Harding |
50/1 |
| Back Bar |  |
J: Izzie Marshall T: Alan Hill |
66/1 |
| Zamparelli |  |
J: Darren Andrews T: V Collins |
80/1 |
| Rewritetherules |  |
J: David O’Brien T: David O’Brien |
100/1 |
But Foxhunter Steeplechase odds in the ante-post market does allow for some early speculation and recommendations to happen.
Dominating the ante-post market for the 2023 renewal has been the Willie Mullins-trained Billaway. His stamina for this sort of contest has been proven over the last couple of years.
He took a runner-up spot in the 2020 and 2021 editions of the St James’s Place Festival Festival Cup Open Hunters’ Chase.
Bob And Co is another who could potentially launch a bold bid, a French horse who made his Cheltenham debut last year but lost his rider.
Others to note currently in the Foxhunter Steeplechase are Cat Tiger and reigning champion Porlock Bay.
How to pick a Foxhunter Steeplechase winner
As we move towards the start of the Cheltenham Festival 2023, our tipsters will be uploading Foxhunter Steeplechase tips.
Some trends are worth looking at ahead of the fixture to try and narrow the market a bit.
For example, three of the last nine winners of the Foxhunter have been the favourite. There have been six winning favourites in the previous 20 editions.
Each of the last seven has been either a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old.
Last 10 Foxhunter Steeplechase Winners Odds
- 2021 Porlock Bay 16/1
- 2020 It Came To Pass 66/1
- 2019 Hazel Hill 7/2F
- 2018 Pacha Du Polder 25/1
- 2017 Pacha Du Polder 16/1
- 2016 On The Fringe 13/8F
- 2015 On The Fringe 6/1
- 2014 Tammys Hill 15/2
- 2013 Salsify 2/1F
- 2012 Salsify 7/1
It is also attractive looking at the last ten editions of the Foxhunter Steeplechase to see that on three occasions, the previous year’s winner had successfully defended their crown in the next renewal.
Of the last 20 winners, 12 have been from Great Britain and the other eight from Ireland, with no entry from France.
Each of the last 20 renewals has been won by a horse with fewer than six starts at the trip.
All but one had won a non-handicap race last time out, and 19 of the previous 20 winners had run between 2m 4f and 3m 2f last time out.
There are plenty of other trends to study, which our betting experts will be doing for Foxhunter Steeplechase Challenge Cup betting tips.
Foxhunter Steeplechase Odds 2023
| Horse | Silks | Trainer/Jockey | Odds |
| Billaway | |
J: Patrick Mullins T: Willie Mullins |
5/2 |
| Winged Leader | |
J: B O’Neill T: David Christie |
9/2 |
| Bob And Co | |
J: David Maxwell T: Paul Nicholls |
6/1 |
| Pont Aven | |
J: Alex Chadwick T: James Owen |
9/1 |
| Dubai Quest | |
J: Gina Andrews T: Tom Ellis |
12/1 |
| Cousin Pascal | |
J: James King T: Joe O’Shea |
14/1 |
| Fumet D’oudairies | |
J: Zac Baker T: Tom Ellis |
16/1 |
| Premier Magic | |
J: Bradley Gibbs T: Bradley Gibbs |
16/1 |
| Lord Schnitzel | |
J: M C O’Donovan T: Declan Queally |
20/1 |
| It Came To Pass | |
J: M O’Sullivan T: Eugene O’Sullivan |
22/1 |
| Mighty Stowaway | |
J: J J Codd T: Gordon Elliott |
25/1 |
| Monbeg Chit Chat | |
J: Christopher Furness T: G B Walford |
28/1 |
| Desire de Joie | |
J: Archie Wright T: N R Wright |
33/1 |
| Overworkdunderpaid | |
J: George Chatterton T: L J Morgan |
33/1 |
| Don Bersy | |
J: Tommie M O’Brien T: Ryan Potter |
50/1 |
| Point The Way | |
J: Joe Wright T: G C Brewer |
50/1 |
| Senor Lombardy | |
J: Lyall Hodgins T: K Harding |
50/1 |
| Back Bar | |
J: Izzie Marshall T: Alan Hill |
66/1 |
| Zamparelli | |
J: Darren Andrews T: V Collins |
80/1 |
| Rewritetherules | |
J: David O’Brien T: David O’Brien |
100/1 |
All About The Foxhunter Steeplechase: Past and Present
The official name of this is the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase, which is limited to amateur riders on horses of at least five years of age.
St James’s Place plc has sponsored it since the 2016 edition. It was commonly known as the St James’s Place Foxhunters’ Chase, but the name was altered slightly for the 2021 edition to remove the word ‘fox’.
This is an ungraded race, but it is held at the same distance of 3m 2f 70y as the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the New Course. There are 22 fences, the same as in the Gold Cup.
There have been nine horses in the history of the Foxhunter Steeplechase that have won it twice. None have gone on to win more. The most recent of those dual winners were Salsify, On The Fringe and Pacha du Polder, all within the last decade.
The leading jockey with three victories is Colman Sweeney, while there are joint all-time top trainers in Richard Barber and Paul Nicholls with four wins each. Two of those for Nicholls have come within the last five renewals.
How Do Horses Qualify for The Foxhunter Steeplechase Race?
There are qualification requirements for the fixture. Horses must have:
- Won or finished as runner-up twice in hunter chases before
- Won at least two open point-to-point races
- Or have won one open point-to-point race and finished first or second in a hunter chase.
5-year-olds have a weight of 11st 13lb, while 6-year-olds plus go at 12st 0lb. Mares get a 7lb allowance.
What is the Foxhunter Steeplechase Prize Money in 2023?
The final purse is yet to be decided. Last year’s winner Porlock Bay won £21,113.99. The rest of the prizes were 2nd £6,237, 3rd £3,118.50, 4th £1,559.25, 5th £779.63, 6th £391.50.
Foxhunter Steeplechase Past winners
There has been that remarkable recent trend of horses winning the Foxhunter in consecutive years, with Salsify, On The Fringe and Pacha Du Polder all achieving that in recent years.
Other notable winners include 2004 winner Earthmover, a 13-year-old veteran Hazel Hill and Zemsky.
| Year | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2021 | Porlock Bay | 16/1 | Lorcan Williams | Will Biddick |
| 2020 | It Came To Pass | 66/1 | Maxine O’Sullivan | Eugene O’Sullivan |
| 2019 | Hazel Hill | 7/2F | Alex Edwards | Philip Rowley |
| 2018 | Pacha Du Polder | 25/1 | Harriet Tucker | Paul Nicholls |
| 2017 | Pacha Du Polder | 16/1 | Bryony Frost | Paul Nicholls |
| 2016 | On The Fringe | 13/8F | Nina Carberry | Enda Bolger |
| 2015 | On The Fringe | 6/1 | Nina Carberry | Enda Bolger |
| 2014 | Tammys Hill | 15/2 | James Smyth | Liam Lennon |
| 2013 | Salsify | 2/1F | Colman Sweeney | Roger Sweeney |
| 2012 | Salsify | 7/1 | Colman Sweeney | Roger Sweeney |
| 2011 | Zemsky | 33/1 | Derek O’Connor | Ian Ferguson |
| 2010 | Baby Run | 9/2JF | Sam Twiston-Davies | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
Other Races on Day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival
The Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup betting is part of Day 4 of Cheltenham 2022. Here are all the races for Friday at the Festival:
13:30 The JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
14:10 The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)
14:50 The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
15:30 The Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeplechase (Grade 1)
16:10 The St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase
16:50 The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (Grade 2)
17:30 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (0-145)