Clonmel Oil Chase: A Look at Its Legendary Winning Horses The highlight of the racing calendar at Clonmel is undoubtedly the Clonmel Oil Chase, which is a Grade 2 run over 2m4f and it is currently scheduled to take place in November. It’s a good stepping stone for some of the smarter chasers in Ireland and can be used as a prep run for some of the top races in the autumn and winter. This race has an illustrious roll of honour and some very smart horses have won it over the years, including Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle winners. Here we take a look at five of the very best Clonmel Oil Chase winners and this list includes a four-time winner of the race. Dorans Pride No horse has won the Clonmel showpiece more times than the Michael Hourigan-trained Dorans Pride. He triumphed four times in a row between 1997 and 2000. Richard Dunwoody was on board for the first two wins, with the first coming by a very comfortable margin of nine lengths. The highlight of his career was probably victory in the 1998 Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, but he was unbeaten in this race and at the track. Beef Or Salmon One of Ireland’s most popular chasers in the early 2000s, Beef Or Salmon was also trained by Hourigan and he won this race on his very first start over fences. He was well at home on the heavy ground that day and managed to get the better of Sackville by three-and-a-half lengths. The very talented chaser will be better known for winning bigger races than this, but will always be one of the best Clonmel Oil Chase winners. War Of Attrition Mouse Morris’ stable star War Of Attrition won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2006, the same season in which he claimed victory in this race. He earned a career high rating of 174 in his prime and won Clonmel’s main event narrowly en route to doing so. War Of Attrition was held up in the early stages and went on to score by half-a-length, hitting the front as they jumped the last. Morris’ gelding declined somewhat after winning the Gold Cup but remained a smart chaser. Douvan Probably one of the biggest cases of ‘what if’ in the last 20 years, Douvan was an incredibly talented chaser whose career was scuppered by consistent injury problems. He won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Arkle at Cheltenham in consecutive seasons and was unbeaten in Britain and Ireland until the 2017 Champion Chase. Willie Mullins’ star chaser won this race easily on his final career start, off the back of a 569-day absence. Allaho Another one for Mullins, Allaho is probably the best winner of this race in recent years. This awesome specimen blew his rivals away to win back-to-back Ryanair Chases at Cheltenham in 2021 and 2022. Also winning the Punchestown Gold Cup in 2022, he kicked off the 2023-2024 season with a facile success here. He made all the running and Allaho’s two rivals had no answer for his powerful performance.
