Royal and Sun Alliance Novices Chase

This is a grade one chase over three miles and 110 yards. This is the gold cup for the novice chasers.

Royal and Sun Alliance Novices Chase Trends

All of the previous ten winners ran at least three times over fences
The previous ten winners finished 1st or 2nd last time they raced
Nine out of the last ten winners were aged seven or eight
All of the previous ten winners did not run on the flat

The Royal and Sun Alliance Chase had started getting a bit of a reputation that it did not produce chasers that would go on and win bigger races. This was starting to look like the case until a win in the Irish Hennessy for Rule Supreme. This was further disspelled with an English Hennessy for Trabolgan and the Gold Cup from Denman. Determination and stamina are key to winning this race.

Irish runners have a very poor running in the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase, unless of course they come from the training stables of the three time winner Willie Mullins. The horse Antarctic Bay was the last Irish trained winner that wasn't trained by Willie Mullins and this was back in 1985!