The Liberthine Mares’ Chase, currently sponsored by Paddy Power, and named the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase, is the youngest race at the Cheltenham Festival.
In the pipeline since 2019, the race was run for the first time in 2021, so it is still in its infancy amongst the 28 contests we see at the meeting.
However, it could potentially play a key role in horse racing moving forward. A third leg to the Cheltenham mares program, we’ve now got a novice hurdle, open hurdle and open chase at the meeting, all specifically restricted to mares only.
This race is run over two miles and four furlongs, the same distance as the Mares Hurdle, and the race currently holds Grade Two status.
Ran on Gold Cup Day, this race takes place on the new course, meaning it is run on the same track, albeit over fences, as the two Mares’ hurdle races at the meeting.
Race Facts
Being a Gold Cup Day races means the Mares’ Chase is run on the new course. The number of fences to be jumped is 17 in the Grade 2 four mile four and a half furlong run.
The race is for 5 year-olds upwards with an 5yo carrying eleven stone and that goes up to 11st 2lb for six year-olds. The race is allowed a field up to 24 but it rarely gets to double figures, for example 8 running last time.
Records For Most Wins
| Record Type | No of Wins | Record Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | 2 | Dinoblue |
| Trainer | 4 | Willie Mullins |
| Jockey | 3 | Mark Walsh |
Race Trends: Winners Since 2021
Previous Winners
| Year | Winner | Age | Odds | Prize | Jockey / Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Dinoblue | 9 | 11/8 F | £73,214.14 |
J: M P Walsh
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2025 | Dinoblue | 8 | 6/4 F | £73,151 |
J: M P Walsh
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2024 | Limerick Lace | 7 | 3/1 | £67,524 |
J: K M Donoghue
T: G P Cromwell
|
| 2023 | Impervious | 7 | 15/8 | £67,524 |
J: B Hayes
T: Colm Murphy
|
| 2022 | Elimay | 8 | 9/4 | £67,524 |
J: M P Walsh
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2021 | Colreevy | 8 | 9/4 | £50,643 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
Race Trivia
There is not a lot to say about this race other than the fact it is new and designed to increase the number of mares’ races at the festival. It is the first mares’ race on Gold Cup Day and sits alongside the Mares’ Hurdle on (Grade 1) and the Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, both on St Patrick’s Thursday (Grade 2).
The registered name of the race is the Liberthine Mares’ Chase named after the high class mare owned by Robert Waley-Cohen, the Cheltenham course chairman from 2011-2019.
Scheduled originally as the second to last race of the Festival it was moved in 2025 to be the third race on the card, perhaps to give it more prestige and help showcase the girls.
The first running of the race in 2021 was a smooth affair on good to soft ground. It culminated in a battle to the line between Irish second favourite Colreevy, at 9/4, and French favourite Elimay. Of course, both of those horses were trained by Willie Mullins, I mean who else has the Cheltenham pedigree to judge a new race to perfection and hit a 1-2 finish on the first time of asking. It was the Paul Townend ridden Colreevy who pipped Elimay to the post to create a little nugget of history and prestige for this brand new race.
Elimay then went one better in 2022, also at 9/4, in another tight battle to the line between four mares’, bringing up two from two for Willie. Mullins was second in 2023 and 2024 but it was two other Irish trainers, Colm Murphy and Gavin Cromwell, that won the race. Mullins got back on track by winning in 2025 and 2026 with favourite Dinoblue (the first favourite to win this race). That also means Dinoblue is the only horse to win this race more than once.
That 2026 win made it six wins from six for the Irish. Mullins winners in 2026, 2025 and 2022 were ridden by Mark Walsh, that makes him the record jockey with three wins now too.
Interestingly two favourites have won this race from the six times it has been run (both times Dinoblue) but the average odds of the winner is only just above 2/1, showing that the fancied horses are the ones to win it so far.
The Final Addition to a Strong Cheltenham Mares’ Program
Races that are for mares only have been slowly introduced to the Cheltenham Festival over time. The Mares’ Hurdle was the first race to be added, introduced in 2008, beginning as a Grade Two contest before being upgraded to a Grade One in 2015.
The second race to be added was the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, which began in 2016, and became the first race of the mares program, a novice contest to give mares somewhere to race away from the top-class Supreme Novices Hurdle.
In 2019, discussions began to add a third. Catering for their novice season, and then open hurdle racing, the next step was to encourage more mares to turn to chasing, and this is how the Mares’ Chase became a feature of the Cheltenham Festival.
Running for the first time in 2021, for those who want to go over the bigger fences, there’s now an option at the festival for them. In the past, many trainers said they specifically stayed over hurdles because of the better prizes on offer. This race goes some way to negating that.
With the program in place, mares who want to remain in training and race now have big prizes to aim for. They also have a novice hurdle, an open hurdle, and an open chase, so there is clear progression as a racehorse through the years and through the program.
Irish Dominance So Far
There are many races at the festival where Ireland has dominated them in recent years, and this is especially the case for the mares’ races.
However, nothing else quite has the dominance that this race has, because so far, every single running of this contest has been won by an Irish-trained horse.
There has always been a better mares program in Ireland, compared to the UK, and at the moment, despite these Cheltenham races being added, this side of the Irish Sea is still trying to catch up.
I’m sure one day, the British will win this race, but so far, there’s been nothing for them.