Grand Annual Chase Betting Tips
- 15/03/2023
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Our betting experts take a look at Grand Annual Chase betting tips coming up on Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival 2023.
In this preview, our top tipsters examine the history and look at some potential contenders for the honours in this year’s renewal.
The list of runners for the Grand Annual Chase odds is not yet released, but as the Cheltenham Festival, 2023 draws ever nearer, our betting tips will be uploaded here.
Last year’s winner of the Grand annual saw Global Citizen land yet another big-priced winner of the race, giving trainer Ben Pauling a first win in the race.
Who will be crowned the next winner of Cheltenham’s Grand Annual Chase?
Grand Annual Chase Tips – Overlooked Outsiders
Looking back at the last decade of Grand Annual odds, there have been some large-priced winners who have come home.
For this year’s betting tips for the Grade 3 contest, our tipsters also consider some overlooked outsiders who could take the glory.
Last year’s winner Global Citizen landed the win from a 28/1 SP, but back in 2019, there was a much bigger success story in the fixture.
Veteran 12-year-old Croco Bay rolled back the years to get the victory from 66/1. Half of the last ten winners of this race have gotten their nose in front to score by at least 16/1 odds.
Keep an eye out for our outsider recommendations in our Grand Annual Chase betting tips.
A look at this year’s underdogs will be available closer to the race.
2023 Grand Annual Runners + Odds – Wednesday 15th March 4.50
| Horse/Form | Silks | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
| Dinoblue
4-4122 |
 |
J: L P Dempsey T: Willie Mullins |
5/1 |
| Andy Dufresne
2-F378 |
|
J: Mark Walsh T: Gordon Elliott |
5/1 |
| Final Orders
211111 |
 |
J: Keith Donoghue T: Gavin Cromwell |
6/1 |
| Third Time Lucki
3-4631 |
 |
J: Harry Skelton T: Dan Skelton |
10/1 |
| Coeur Sublime
7-2F42 |
 |
J: Ben Harvey (5) T: Henry De Bromhead |
11/1 |
| Dads Lad
511519 |
 |
J: Brian Hayes T: Willie Mullins |
12/1 |
| Thyme White
12F-15 |
 |
J: Harry Cobden T: Paul Nicholls |
14/1 |
| Elixir De Nutz
P-9212 |
 |
J: Brendan Powell T: Joe Tizzard |
16/1 |
| Epson Du Houx
/61-23 |
 |
J: Rachael Blackmore T: Henry De Bromhead |
16/1 |
| Global Citizen
31-P74 |
 |
J: Luca Morgan T: Ben Pauling |
20/1 |
| Before Midnight
26-334 |
 |
J: Sam Twiston-Davies T: Sam Thomas |
20/1 |
| Call Me Lyreen
1122F5 |
 |
J: Sam Ewing T: Gordon Elliott |
20/1 |
| Midnight Run
-22315 |
|
J: B J Cooper T: Joseph Patrick O’Brien |
20/1 |
| Maskada
F-4F10 |
 |
J: Darragh O’Keeffe T: Henry De Bromhead |
20/1 |
| Malystic
42P114 |
 |
J: Danny McMenamin T: Peter Niven |
20/1 |
| The Last Day
6/F1-5 |
 |
J: Adam Wedge T: Evan Williams |
25/1 |
| Sizing Pottsie
-12956 |
 |
J: Jack Tudor T: David Pipe |
25/1 |
| A Wave Of The Sea
F64P03 |
|
J: Simon Torrens T: Joseph Patrick O’Brien |
25/1 |
| Prince Escalus (RESERVE)
2-5481 |
 |
J: Jonjo O’Neill Jr T: Jonjo O’Neill |
25/1 |
| Riders Onthe Storm (RESERVE)
p0-107 |
 |
J: Gavin Sheehan T: Richard Hobson |
20/1 |
| Dancing On My Own
F02-09 |
 |
J: J J Slevin T: Henry De Bromhead |
20/1 |
| Battleoverdoyen
35P493 |
 |
J: Jordan Gainford T: Gordon Elliott |
20/1 |
The final declarations will put a firm stamp on the Grand Annual betting scene for this year’s renewal.
But there is an ante-post market to help guide things based on early entries, and it can lead to a look at form and statistics to help narrow the field a little.
Boothill has been one of the notable early contenders in the Grand Annual odds for the ante-post market.
This season, Harry Fry’s 8-year-old has been thriving over the fences, winning three of his four races this season, with the only defeat coming behind the impressive Jonbon.
Coeur Sublime is another name prominent in the betting, who could be set to make his fourth appearance at the Festival. The closest he has come to winning at the Festival is a runner-up effort behind Pentland Hills in the Triumph Hurdles back in 2019.
Il Ridoto, So Scottish and Aucunrisque are a few others showing early in the racing odds. The latter was just a length behind Boothill in the Wayward Lad Novice Chase and will be hopeful of reversing that form if the pain line up here.
How to pick a Grand Annual Chase Winner
Looking back through statistics and trends will help a punter pick out a Grand Annual Chase winner.
This is an exciting handicap chase as it is one of the races from the Festival that usually offers larger odds, even where the favourites are concerned.
It’s an unpredictable and demanding challenge, and there have only been two favourites to get a win in the last ten renewals of this Grade 3 fixture. There have been only 3 in the previous 20 editions.
Last 10 Grand Annual Winners Odds
- 2022 Global Citizen 28/1
- 2021 Sky Pirate 14/1
- 2020 Chosen Mate 7/2F
- 2019 Croco Bay 66/1
- 2018 Le Parisien 15/2
- 2017 Rock The World 10/1
- 2016 Solar Impulse 28/1
- 2015 Next Sensation 16/1
- 2014 Savello 16/1
- 2013 Alderwood 3/1F
Six of the last ten winners of the race were trained in Britain, including the last two winners of the race.
To touch on some more trends, the last 20 winners had between 3 and 8 career wins and had at least one and no more than seven runs for the season.
Each of them had never before been placed at odds bigger than 25/1, and all but one had never been beyond 2m 6f.
See what our tipsters recommend for Grand Annual betting as we get closer to the start of this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
All About The Grand Annual Chase: Past and Present
This is a race steeped in fantastic history because it is the oldest race at the Cheltenham Festival, having had its inaugural edition in 1834.
The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is officially a Grade 3 race around the Old Course at Prestbury Park. Some of its earlier editions were hosted at different venues before it arrived back at Cheltenham in 1913.
The distance is 2m (thereabouts), and the contenders face 14 fences on the trip.
The Grand Annual has seen a slight change since 2022, where it has been moved to the penultimate slot on Day 2, usually having been the very last run of the entire Festival.
It is a tough race, and only two horses have previously managed to win it twice, and they were Top Twenty (1958, 1959) and Dulwich (1974, 1976).
The leading jockey in the Grand Annual is Graham Bradley, who won it four times, while Paul Nicholls has the honours of being the top trainer since 1946 with four successes, two of those in the last seven renewals.
How Do Horses Qualify For the Grand Annual Chase Race?
The Grand Annual is open to runners 5-year-old and above, which is a handicap, so that’s how the weights are handled. The fixture is for male and female runners, but only four female horses have entered the last 20 editions.
Since 2019, the number of horses in the Grand Annual has been reduced to 20 from the previous 24.
What is the Grand Annual Prize Money in 2023?
There was a top prize of £70,337.50 for last year’s winner, Global Citizen. The rest of the payouts from the 2022 renewal were 2nd £26,500, 3rd £13,262.50, 4th £6,625, 5th £3,325, 6th £1,662.50, 7th £825, 8th £425. The purse for the 2023 edition is yet to be announced.
Grand Annual Past Winners
Given that only two horses, Top Twenty and Dulwich, have won this race more than once since the mid-’40s, they have to go on the list of notable previous winners.
One of the more recent victors is Solar Impulse, who defied a big age trend to win it as a 6-year-old in 2015. And 2019’s veteran winner Croco Bay, who won as a sprightly 12 year old.
| Year | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2022 | Global Citizen | 28/1 | Kielan Woods | Ben Pauling |
| 2021 | Sky Pirate | 14/1 | Nick Scholfield | Jonjo O’Neill |
| 2020 | Chosen Mate | 7/2F | Davy Russell | Gordon Elliott |
| 2019 | Croco Bay | 66/1 | Kielan Woods | Ben Case |
| 2018 | Le Prezien | 15/2 | Barry Geraghty | Paul Nicholls |
| 2017 | Rock The World | 10/1 | Robbie Power | Mrs John Harrington |
| 2016 | Solar Impulse | 28/1 | Sam Twiston-Davies | Paul Nicholls |
| 2015 | Next Sensation | 16/1 | Tom Scudamore | Michael Scudamore |
| 2014 | Savello | 16/1 | Davy Russell | A J Martin |
| 2013 | Alderwood | 3/1F | A P McCoy | Thomas Mullins |
| 2012 | Bellvano | 20/1 | Paul Carberry | Nicky Henderson |
| 2011 | Oiseau De Nuit | 40/1 | Mr S Clements | Colin Tizzard |
Other Races on Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival
The Grand Annual is the penultimate fixture of Day 2 at Cheltenham 2023. Here are the races for Wednesday at the Festival:
13:30 The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race (Grade 1)
14:10 The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase (Grade 1)
14:50 The Coral Cup Hurdle (A Handicap Hurdle Race) (Grade 3)
15:30 The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeplechase (Grade 1)
16:10 The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase
16:50 The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup (Grade 3)
17:30 The Weatherbys Champion Bumper (A Standard Open NH Flat Race) (Grade 1)