A guide to betting in the Foxhunters at the Cheltenham Festival

The Friday of the Festival at Cheltenham is synonymous with the Gold Cup of course, but immediately afterwards comes the St James Place Festival Hunter Chase.

Often referred to as the amateurs Gold Cup, the race is typically open to amateur riders only and provides an opportunity for them to shine on the biggest stage of all, tackling the same course and distance as the very best in the business do in the Cheltenham Gold Cup just before them.

Here's our guide to betting in the race formerly known as the Foxhunters at the Cheltenham Festival but now more commonly referred to as the Hunters' Chase.

How do runners qualify?

Runners for the St James Place Festival Hunter Chase have to have met certain qualifying criteria to get in.

To be eligible a horse must have finished first or second twice in hunter chases, or have won two open point-to-point races, or have won one open point-to-point race and finished first or second in a hunter chase within the pre-determined qualifying period.

Horses must be five or older to run in the race, with a 2lb allowance in place for five-year-olds and a 7lb allowance for mares in the race.

Who can ride in the race?

The St James Place Festival Hunter Chase is essentially the Gold Cup for amateur riders.

The one notable exception was in 2021, as amateur riders were excluded from the Cheltenham Festival due to restrictions in the aftermath of the pandemic, with Lorcan Williams scoring on Porlock Bay for Will Biddick that year.

Famous winners of the race

Records for the race are dated from 1946 onwards, though it was first run as early as 1904.

Nine horses have managed to win it twice. The Callant was the first to do it in 1956 and 1957, while it was most recently achieved by Pacha du Polder in 2017 and 2018.

In between, Whinstone Hill (1958, 1960), College Master (1961, 1962), Double Silk (1993, 1994), Fantus (1995, 1997), Earthmover (1998, 2004), Salsify (2012, 2013) and On The Fringe (2015, 2016) have all achieved doubles.

Most successful jockeys

Colman Sweeney holds the record with three wins, scoring on Sleeping Night in 2005 and then steering Salsify home in successive years in 2012 and 2013.

Others to have won twice include John Scott-Aiton, Bobby Brewis, Laurie Morgan, Dick Woodhouse, Oliver Sherwood, Ron Treloggen and Nina Carberry.

Most successful trainers

Richard Barber and Paul Nicholls share the record with four wins apiece. Barber's winners were Rushing Wild (1992), Fantus (1995, 1997), Earthmover (1998), while Nicholls has sent out Earthmover (2004), Sleeping Night (2005), Pacha du Polder (2017, 2018) to win.

Notable achievements

Fiona Needham and Enda Bolger have both managed to ride the winner of the race and train a winner. Needham won in 2024 with Sine Nomine as a trainer, 22 years after partnering Last Option.

Bolger rode and trained 1996 winner Elegant Lord and also saddled On The Fringe to his two wins.

Harry Freeman-Jackson, Bobby Brewis, Laurie Morgan, Harry Llewellyn, Dick Woodhouse, Richard Shepherd, John Thorne and Brod Munro-Wilson have also trained and ridden their winner.

Family affairs are commonplace this century, with Sweeney twice riding the winner for his father Rodger with On The Fringe, Sam Twiston-Davies scoring on Baby Run for dad Nigel, Patrick Mullins steering home Billaway for Willie and Maxine O'Sullivan on board It Came To Pass for her father, Eugene O'Sullivan.

Familiar names in the mix

Ahead of the 2025 St James Place Festival Hunter Chase some familiar names are being geared for the Cotswolds.

Its On The Line has been second in the previous two years, while Famous Clermont was sixth in 2023.

Other prominent names in the market for the March 14th race include Angels Dawn, Willitgoahead, Winger Leader, Ryehill and Con's Roc.

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