Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase

The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase is the second race scheduled for the second day at the Cheltenham Festival. The race was first run back in 1946 under its original name, the Broadway Novices’ Chase. This became its official registered title in 2021 but it is now known under its current guise as the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase for sponsorship reasons.

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase Overview

The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase is a Grade One chase open to horses aged five years or older. It is run over a distance of 3 miles and 80 yards on the old course at Cheltenham. There are twenty fences to be jumped in total during the race.

It is run on the second day, Wednesday of the meeting, usually as the second race on the card with the winner’s prize money likely to be around £112,000. It is the leading three-mile chase for novices in the National Hunt calendar with the leading performer likely to go on to compete at the spring festivals at Aintree Racecourse and Punchestown Racecourse.

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase Betting Trends and Statistics

• The past 24 winners had all contested a graded novice chase earlier in the season.
• Willie Mullins is again the trainer to follow here with 7 victories in the contest including last year’s winner Lecky Watson.
• Gordon Elliot has a poor record in the race with 11 losers in the last 14 years.
• Mullins, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls have won 13 of the last 22 renewals.
• Seven years old is the most likely age of the winner with 21 of the last 26 winners being that age.
• The market is normally a good guide with six favourites striking in the last decade.
• This is not a race that mares do well in with twelve getting beat since one last won in 1995.
• Previous Cheltenham Festival form is important with 7 of the last 16 winners contesting the previous year’s Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
• The winner can be called the leading staying novice chaser of his generation and is likely to be back the following year to contest the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the final day.

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase History

The race was initially known as the Broadway Novices’ Chase and has held many different sponsor titles throughout the years including the Tote, RSA Insurance Group, Sun Alliance and since 2021 by its current sponsor Brown Advisory.

Several winners of the race have subsequently gone on to success in the blue riband of National Hunt racing The Cheltenham Gold Cup with the most recent being the 2014 winner Lord Windermere.

Other notable winners of the race in modern times are Denman (2007), Bobs Worth (2012), Champ (2020) and last year’s winner Fact To File.

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase Winners