Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase – Gold Cup Day

The Cheltenham Hunters’ Chase is one of the real traditional contests of the Cheltenham Festival. Known as the amateur Gold Cup, this brings together amateur riders and jockeys, many from the point-to-point scene, running over the same course and distance as the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is run one race before this.

That means the gruelling challenge of three miles and two furlongs, a total of 22 fences to jump, and right at the end, you need the stamina to get up the hill.

This may not be the richest race of the week, or the most prestigious race, and you may not know the winning trainer, jockey or both. But in terms of bringing a story, a feel-good factor and celebrating the lesser names in racing, this race is up there with the best.

The race was founded in 1904 and has been run ever since. It started with amateurs, as everyone in racing was an amateur at that point, and has always remained the case for jockeys. However, we do now see many professional trainers with hunter chase horses in their yard, so you will see some big names when you look at the race card.

With a total prize pot of less than £50,000, this race is the least valuable Cheltenham Festival contest. However, it’s always hotly anticipated, with a full field, because of the prestige of the race, and the fact that amateurs are at the centre of it all.

Race Facts

The Festival Challenge Cup is essentially the Gold Cup for amateurs. It is run left-handed over the same distance as the Gold Cup, following the same three mile, two and a half furling route and featuring the same twenty-two fences that must be jumped. The only difference, in fact, is that this is only open for amateur jockeys and the horses that enter it must meet a set criteria in order to qualify.

They need to have either won two point-to-point races or have one point-to-point victory alongside a first or second place finish in a hunter chase. If not then they must have come either first or second in two hunter chases.

The horses must be five or older, with five-year-olds given a weight of eleven stone ten pound and those older than five twelve stone exactly. There’s a seven pounds allowance in place for mares.  The pot for this race is under £50,000, the lowest of any event during that year’s Cheltenham Festival.

Previous Winners

Race Trivia

The race was first run in 1904, yet records for it only go back as far as 1946. Because it’s a remarkably tricky race to run, essentially following the same circuit as the Gold Cup before it, it’s tricky for a horse to win it several times. In fact, no horse has ever won the race more than twice. The Callant, Whinstone Hill, College Master, Double Silk, Fantus, Earthmover, Salsify, On The Fringe and Pacha du Polder are the nine horses that have managed double victories, with Earthmover’s wins in 1998 and 2004 the most distant from each other.

The rider of Whinstone Hill in both 1958 and 1960, Bobby Brewis is one of several jockeys who have managed two wins in this race. The others are Dick Woodhouse, John Scott-Aiton (on The Callant in 1956 and 1957), John Thorne, Laurie Morgan (in 1961 and 1962 on College Master), Nina Carberry (Thanks to On The Fringe in 2015 and 2016), Oliver Sherwood, Richard Shepherd and Ron Treloggen (with Double Silk in 1993 and 1994). The record for wins as a jockey, however, goes to Colman Sweeney, winning with Sleeping Night in 2005 and Salsify in 2012 and 2013.

Where there’s a horse than wins more than once, there’s normally a trainer achieving the same thing. Arthur Stephenson, Bobby Brewis, Dick Woodhouse (riding the horses he’d trained), Laurie Morgan (also riding the horse as well as training it), Reg Wilkins and Roger Sweeney have all notched up double wins, with Stewart Wight, Fred Winter and Enda Bolger all managing to win it three time. The record, though, goes jointly to Richard Barber for his four wins between 1992 and 1998 and Paul Nicholls for his four victories between 2004 and 2018.

Willie Mullins in fact only won this race for the first time in 2022 with Billaway, so maybe look to other horses in general and stick with Mullins for the other races.

This is definitely a race to look for an outsider in.  In 2020 and 2023 horses won priced at 66/1 and the average odds for the winner since 2000 is around 17/1.  In 2024 Sine Nomine became the first mare to win the race this century.

Qualifying Criteria for Horses and Jockeys

Given the amateur status of this race, although the trainers can be from the professional game, there are rules in place for the riders who take part, and also for the horses that contest it.

Firstly, jockeys need to be amateur jockeys, but they need to have hit the threshold for winners. As it currently stands, jockeys need to have either won two point-to-point races in their career or won one point-to-point win alongside either a first or second placed finish in a hunter chase.

Those who haven’t won a point-to-point can qualify via hunter chase races, where the requirement is to finish first or second in two hunter chase races.

Horses must be aged five or older, with five-year-olds carrying 11st 12lb, and those six and above carrying 12st. Any mares in the race can claim a 7lb allowance, giving them less weight to carry.

Horses must be nominated for amateur racing, so they must either run in point-to-point races or in hunter chase races only under rules.

Trainers have no requirements on them, and as mentioned above, many of the top professionals now target horses at this contest. This is a talking point that has been the centre of much debate, as to whether the bigger names should be running in this contest.

Those who are proper amateur setups believe that this should be a race for them only, and the big boys should concentrate on the rest.