The Princess Royal National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase – Champion Day

The National Hunt Novices’ Chase has undergone plenty of changes in recent years, going as far as changing the distance of the race, amongst other things.  You can read about this further down this page.

It’s the closing race on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, an interesting closing, and a race that has a lot of history around it. The National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup is one of the oldest races still run at the Cheltenham Festival, having been run for over 165 years.

In its current form, this is a race run over three miles and six furlongs, open to all jockeys, and is now a novice handicap, though all of that was very different just a few years ago.

The changes should bring more interest, a competitive field and plenty to talk about, with everything looking positive for the future.

Inaugurated in 1860, this race has been given a number of different names over the years. Interestingly, though, those names have never been anything to do with sponsorship but instead have been dedicated to certain people or causes. For example, in 2008 it was run under the banner of the Peter O’Sullivan National Hunt Chase, in dedication to the racing commentator’s 90th birthday. In 2012 it was the Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase, in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

In 2025 the race was renamed permanently after Princess Anne (the younger sister of the late Queen) to become the The Princess Royal National Hunt Chase.  As the most frequent visitor and supporter of Cheltenham amongst the Royal Family it is a fitting tribute for the former amateur jockey and Olympic medal winning equestrian.

Race Facts

This novice handicap race was one of the best amateur events run at the Cheltenham Festival until professional jockeys were allowed to enter for the first time in 2025.  Lasting for just under four miles and featuring 23 fences. It’s run left-handed over the Old Course. It is for novice chasers aged five or older (0-145 rating), with five years old given a weight of eleven stone four pound. Horses aged over six can be eleven stone six pound and there’s a seven pounds allowance for mares.

In 2017 Lisa O’Neill, riding Tiger Roll, became only the second woman to win the race, following in the footsteps of Katie Walsh who won it back in 2010 on Poker de Sivola. Gordon Elliott was Tiger Roll’s trainer, managing his third victory in the event at time time, he has since won a fourth time in 2020 with Ravenhill.

Previous Winners

Race Trivia

Considering this is one of the oldest races run at the Festival, it won’t be a massive surprise to learn that there’s a fair amount of trivia available regarding its past. For the record, the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is older as it was run for the first time in 1834, but the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup has been run on more occasions. The National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup was originally run at different venues around the country, not settling at Cheltenham until 1911.

Originally this race was considered to be the second most important in the National Hunt calendar, with only the Grand National getting more prominence. That changed in the 1930s as the Gold Cup grew in importance. Despite its age and importance, no horse has ever won the race more than once.

Even jockeys struggle to make much of an impression, with only two of them winning more than twice, that was Jamie Codd winning in 2015 and then back-to-back in 2019 and 2020 and Partick Mullins winning in 2013, 2018, 2022 and 2023 with Willie Mullins as trainer all four times. Thirteen jockeys have won it twice though, including some of whom have gone to be famous trainers such as Willie Mullins and JT McNamara. The trainer with the most wins is Jonjo O’Neill, having won it six times.  Interestingly it took until 2026 for Nicky Henderson to win this for the first time.

It will be no great shock to learn that the race hasn’t been run on a few occasions, given how long it’s been going on for. Between 1915 and 1919, for example, the Cheltenham Racecourse was occupied by the military so no racing took place. From 1940 to 1945 the Second World War stopped racing happening for similar reasons. In 1975 the race had to be abandoned due to water logging on the course. The only time in the modern era that the race was called off was in 2001, when the entire Festival had to be cancelled due to the outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease.

Second Oldest Cheltenham Festival Race

The Cheltenham Festival is steeped in history, and the National Hunt Novices’ Chase is a race that goes back almost to the beginning.

This is the second-oldest race at the meeting, behind the Grand Annual handicap, which is 26 years older than this race. These are the only two races from the festival that date back to the 1800s, with the Grand Annual first running in 1834 and the National Hunt Chase dating back to 1860.

The race didn’t actually begin life at Cheltenham, instead it toured a few different racecourses at the time. However, in 1911, the race became a permanent fixture at Cheltenham when they created a new two-day race meeting and added this race as the best of the meeting.

This definitely helped the race’s stature, and until the 1930s, it was considered the second-largest race on the jumping calendar, behind the Aintree Grand National.

Finally, many historians signal this race as being the one that was at the centre of the original version of the Cheltenham Festival, and the race that everything was built around, into what we have today. So forget the Gold Cup, this is where it all started.

Significant Race Changes in 2020

The present-day version of this race has changed beyond recognition compared to the race we saw before 2020, which is when the first raft of changes took place.

Prior to these moves, the race held the title as being the longest race at the Cheltenham Festival, but after the changes, that title would go to the Cross Country Chase.

It was the 2019 running that led to these changes, after an inquiry on the day and a later investigation took place. 18 runners started, but just four finished in what was a gruelling contest. Three jockeys were banned for continuing with tired horses. This was subsequently changed under appeal, but showed why everyone was concerned.

Here’s a look at the changes that were brought in for the 2020 race.

Distance

• The National Hunt Chase will be run over about 3m6f (3m 5f 201y)
• The number of fences jumped will reduce from 25 to 23.

Horses

• All horses must have a minimum BHA rating of 120 to participate
• Horses must have run in at least two chases and must have finished in the first four in a chase staged over an extended two miles and seven and a half furlongs or further
• Horses must have run at least once in a chase during the current season.

Jockeys

• All jockeys riding in the National Hunt Chase must have ridden a minimum of 20 times and achieved at least five winners over fences
• All qualifying rides must have come in races staged under Rules (i.e. excluding point-to-point races).

Further Race Changes in 2025

On top of the changes above, two more came in 2025, and one in particular would change how this race has looked for decades.

The main change was removing the stipulation that only amateur riders could ride in this contest. Professionals were finally allowed to ride in the race, and this was done in a bid to get more experienced jockeys on board.

The three suspensions and criticisms of others during the 2019 race led the BHA to change this, in a bid to prevent less experienced riders from racing over this long-distance trip.

It was unwelcome by those from the amateur scene, seeing this as one less opportunity for the lesser names to get their names in the headlines.

The second change in 2025 was around the status of the race. Originally a Grade Two contest, the race has now been downgraded to a handicap in a bid to increase the field size.

A 3m6f race isn’t the most obvious distance, especially for novice runners, so moving to a handicap opens this for a wider range of abilities.