Arkle Chase Tips
- 14/03/2023
- -:--
In our guide to the Arkle Chase betting, our racing experts take a look at this big fixture from the opening day of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. We examine some of the history of the Arkle and provide some insight about where to potentially focus betting.
While punters wait for the final declarations for the running of the Arkle Chase Challenge Trophy, our tipsters look at the all-important trends of how to pick an Arkle winner along with some of the key ante-post contenders.
Alan King’s Edwardstone got his nose in front to land the 2022 edition of the Arkle. Closer to the start of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, there will be further tips about who could be the one to follow in his footsteps.
Arkle Chase Betting Tips – Overlooked Outsiders
In last year’s Arkle, one of the big Cheltenham Festival highlights came from Edwardstone, ridden by Tom Cannon. Edwardstone pencilled his name into the history books by winning the 2022 renewal in cosy fashion, finishing over four lengths ahead of the runner-up Gabynako.
Our tips for this year’s edition will be released later when the list of Arkle Chase runners is finalised and all current form is up to date.
Once the declared runners are announced, we will be going into depth with our tips for the key contenders in Arkle betting and the outsiders in the field.
Underdogs have their day at any meeting, and one of the biggest stages for it to happen is the Cheltenham Festival. The Arkle has churned out plenty of short-priced winners recently, with the likes of powerhouses Douvan, Altior and Shishkin taking a victory.
But in 2020, Put The Kettle On defied 16/1 SP odds with a prominent run. After opening at 20/1 in the Arkle betting market, she had at one point gone out to 25/1 before shortening dramatically on the day. The win for Put The Kettle On saw her become the first mare to land the 2m Grade 1 contest in four decades.
We’ll have more on this year’s underdogs closer to the time.
2023 Arkle Chase Runners + Odds – Tuesday 14th March 2:10
| Horse/Form | Silks | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
| Jonbon
21-111 |
 |
J: Aidan Coleman T: Nicky Henderson |
6/4 |
| El Fabiolo
12-111 |
 |
J: Paul Townend T: Willie Mullins |
13/8 |
| Dysart Dynamo
1F-514 |
 |
J: Danny Mullins T: Willie Mullins |
4/1 |
| Saint Roi
-4321U |
|
J: Mark Walsh T: Willie Mullins |
8/1 |
| Hollow Games
33-514 |
 |
J: Davy Russell T: Gordon Elliott |
40/1 |
| Ha D’Or
32-214 |
 |
J: Sean O’Keeffe T: Willie Mullins |
50/1 |
| Straw Fan Jack
47-114 |
 |
J: Sean Houlihan T: Sheila Lewis |
50/1 |
| Effernock Fizz
212721 |
 |
J: Sam Ewing T: Cian Michael Collins |
100/1 |
| Ballybreeze
4323-1 |
 |
J: Robert Dunne T: Samuel Drinkwater |
100/1 |
While we can’t yet fully size up the betting market for the Arkle, there are some indicators to be looked at in the ante-post. The final declarations for a Cheltenham Festival race come 48 hours before the start time, a rule change made in 2018.
So that’s the point at which the final field will be released for the Arkle. But yards prepare contenders for the race a long way ahead of time. Some will be coming in fresh from an absence on a reappearance effort, while others will have been primed through other work throughout the season.
Jonbon looks set to line up in the Arkle having won both of his races over fences in impressive style. His impressive from-the-front victory in the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase is some of the best form on offer currently, which has left him as a clear front runner in the Arkle Chase ante-post betting.
Another likely to produce a challenge is top Irish Arkle Chase contender Dysart Dynamo. The Willie Mullins’ charge has only had the one race over fences currently, but he demolished the field by a huge 28 lengths.
Willie Mullins also has El Fabiolo in fantastic shape, having won easily on his chase debut too. He was only a neck behind Jonbon over hurdles at Aintree last April, so he’ll be seeking revenge if they both line up here in March.
Watch for the latest Arkle Chase tips as the race, scheduled for Tuesday, 14th March 2023 nears.
How to pick an Arkle winner
Our tipsters will be applying their expertise to the 2023 Arkle field to produce the top betting tips. Looking at some past trends is an excellent way to try and analyse which way to go in the current market.
Three of the last five winners of the Arkle Chase have been six-year-olds, but the last two races have gone to older horses, with 7YO Shishkin winning it in 2021 and 8YO Edwardstone landing the honours last year.
Since the turn of the century, there have only been five winners of the Arkle who weren’t either 6 or 7-year-old runners. Those bucking the big age trend for the Arkle were 8-year-olds Moscow Flyer (2002), Sizing Europe (2010) and last year’s winner Edwardstone (2022), while Well Chief (2004) and Voy Por Ustedes (2006) did it as 5-year-olds.
What about backing favourites when it comes to Arkle Chase horse racing betting? There has been a trend in the last decade too, which could support taking some big consideration of the market favourite.
Seven of the last ten winners of the Arkle have been sent off as favourites, with six of those beings odds-on in the betting. However, on the flip side of that, from an Arkle betting perspective, of the other three of the last ten winners, two of those were priced at 16/1 or bigger.
- 2022 Edwardstone 5/2F
- 2021 Shiskin 4/9F
- 2020 Put The Kettle On 16/1
- 2019 Duc De Genievres 5/1
- 2018 Footpad 5/6F
- 2017 Altior 1/4F
- 2016 Douvan 1/4F
- 2015 Un De Sceaux 4/6F
- 2014 Western Warhorse 33/1
- 2013 Simonsig 8/15F
It’s generally a good idea to lean towards the top yards, notably Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins. Henderson is the most successful trainer in the history of the Arkle, having produced seven winners, including five since 2000.
Willie Mullins has come up with four of the last eight, notably each of the last three of his Arkle winners being 6-year-olds. Since 2012 when Nicky Henderson’s Sprinter Sacre took the honours, there have only been five different trainers to have won the Arkle – Henderson, Willie Mullins, David Pipe, Henry de Bromhead and Alan King.
The leading jockeys in the Arkle are Barry Geraghty, and Ruby Walsh, locked together on four wins each. The partnership of Nico de Boinville and trainer Nicky Henderson has taken two of the last six Arkle renewals.
All About The Arkle Challenge Trophy: Past and Present
The Arkle is a Grade 1 chase of a distance of (almost) 2m. It’s hosted on the Old Course at Cheltenham and is only for novice chasers. Novices are horses that haven’t won a race in the particular sphere (in this case, chasing) before the start of the current season.
Even if a horse wins as a novice, they stay a novice until the end of that season, so any novice can actually stack up wins and still be under the label.
There are 13 fences in the Arkle, which was moved from its slot on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival to the opening day for the first time in 1980. To give the race its full name, the Arkle Challenge Trophy replaced the former Cotswold Chase in 1969.
It is one of the top 2m contests in UK & Irish racing and generally is a big feeder event for another of the Festival’s big 2m fixtures, the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Only five-year-olds and up can take on the challenge and mares can claim a 7lb allowance for the Arkle.
The name “Arkle” is a nod towards one of the greatest Cheltenham Gold Cup horses from the annals of history. That’s the eponymous Arkle who won the Festival’s Blue Riband event for three straight years in the mid-1960s. He also dominated the Hennessy Gold Cup and the King George VI Chase. Arkle’s skeleton now stands in place at the Irish National Stud.
What is the Arkle Chase Prize Money in 2023?
As of 2022, the prize money for the Arkle was £179,156.36. That’s the total purse for the race, with the winner collecting £102,481.73. The scale slid down to seven prize money places which were 2nd £38,610.49, 3rd £19,323.46, 4th £9,652.63, 5th £4,844.53, 6th £2,422.26, 7th £1,202.03 and 8th £619.23. The 2023 Arkle Chase Prize money details are yet to be released at the time of writing.
Arkle Chase Past Winners
Because this is a Novices’ Chase, a horse can only win the Arkle once in their career. But the race has produced some fantastic winners in the past who have gone on to even bigger things.
The 1978 winner Alverton for example, returned to the Cheltenham Festival the following year to claim the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The likes of Moscow Flyer, Voy Por Ustedes, Sizing Europe, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Put The Kettle On have all picked up victories in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, having been a former Arkle winner.
| Year | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2010 | Sizing Europe | 6/1 | A E Lynch | Henry De Bromhead |
| 2011 | Captain Chris | 6/1 | Richard Johnson | Philip Hobbs |
| 2012 | Sprinter Sacre | 8/11F | Barry Geragthy | Nicky Henderson |
| 2013 | Simonsig | 8/15F | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Hendesron |
| 2014 | Western Warhorse | 33/1 | Tom Scudamore | David Pipe |
| 2015 | Un de Sceaux | 4/6F | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins |
| 2016 | Douvan | 1/4F | Ruby Walsh | WIllie Mullins |
| 2017 | Altior | 1/4F | Nico de Boinville | Nicky Henderson |
| 2018 | Footpad | 5/6F | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins |
| 2019 | Duc des Genievres | 5/1 | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2020 | Put The Kettle On | 16/1 | Aidan Coleman | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Shishkin | 4/9F | Nico de Boinville | Nicky Henderson |
| 2022 | Edwardstone | 5/2F | Tom Cannon | Alan King |
Other Races on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival
The Arkle Chase is just one of seven races for the day’s card at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday, 14th March 2023. The day starts with the hugely popular Supreme Novices,’ while the big feature race of the day is the Champion Hurdle Trophy. Here is the complete list of races on Day 1 of the Festival.
13:30 The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 The Arkle Challenge Trophy
14:50 The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 The Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race
17:30 The National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Steeple Chase