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The Grand Annual Chase, or the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase, as the race has been titled since 2005, is currently scheduled as the penultimate race on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival. The late Johnny Henderson, father of Upper Lambourn trainer Nicky, was a founder member of the Racecourse Holdings Trust, which was credited with safeguarding the future of Cheltenham Racecourse in the sixties.

Nowadays classified as a ‘Premier Handicap’ by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the race has, since 2021, been run over two miles on the Old Course at Prestbury Park. The Grand Annual Chase was originally established in 1834 and, as such, has the distinction of being the oldest steeplechase run in Britain, for all that is was discontinued for much of the second half of the nineteenth century.

Following a review by the BHA, published in late 2018, the safety limit for the Grand Annual Chase was reduced from 24 to 20, making it marginally less competitive than some of the other Festival handicaps. Nevertheless, Dulwich, way back in 1976, remains the last horse to win the race more than once and, at the time of writing, Chosen Mate, trained by Gordon Elliott, was the sole winning favourite in the last decade. Indeed, winners at 66/1, 28/1 (twice), 22/1 and four more at double-figure prices in the same period demonstrate that the Grand Annual Chase is hardly a giveaway from a punting perspective. Paul Nicholls, with four winners – St Pirran (2004), Andreas (2007), Solar Impulse (2016) and Le Prezien (2018) – is the most successful trainer since World War II.

Following recent changes to the Cheltenham Festival race programme, notably the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, the Coral Cup is now the first of three handicaps run on ‘Style Wednesday’. Run over two miles and five furlongs on the Old Course, the race currently has a safety limit of 26 and is invariably hotly contested. Indeed, Langer Dan, who won back-to-back renewals in 2023 and 2024, was sent off at a single-figure price on both occasions, as were Dame De Compagnie in 2020 and Aux Ptit Soins in 2015, but the other six winners in the last decade started at 50/1, 33/1, 28/1, 20/1, 16/1 and 12/1.

The Coral Cup was established in 1993 and, in three-and-a-bit decades, Upper Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson has saddled four winners – Spirit River (2010), Whisper (2014), William Henry (2019) and Dame De Compagnie (2020) – making him the most successful handler in the history of the race. The retired pair Barry Geraghty and Davy Russell both rode three winners apiece and remain, jointly, the most successful jockeys.

The Coral Cup presents a thorny puzzle for punters to solve, as evidenced by the fact that just two favourites, Xenophon (2003) and the aforementioned Dame De Compagnie, have won since the turn of the century. Previous form, preferably winning form, at Cheltenham and/or over distances beyond two miles and a furlong is clearly a positive, but it is worth noting that a recent win is not a prerequisite for victory in the Coral Cup.

Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival, dubbed ‘Style Wednesday’ by the Jockey Club, starts with the Grade 1 Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle (aka Turners Novices’ Hurdle) , run over two miles and five furlongs on the Old Course at Prestbury Park and open to novice hurdlers aged four years and upwards. Inaugurated, as the Aldsworth Hurdle, in 1971, the race commemorates William Baring Bingham who, as the owner of Prestbury Park, facilitated a precursor to the Cheltenham Festival in 1902. That said, the race has been run under various sponsored titles down the years, most recently the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle.

Willie Mullins, the most successful trainer in Cheltenham Festival history, has saddled seven winners, namely Fiveforthree (2008), Mikael d’Haguenet (2009), Faugheen (2014), Yorkhill (2016), Sir Gerhard (2022), Impaire Et Passe (2023) and Ballyburn (2024) and just one of the last 10, Willoughby Court, locally trained by Ben Pauling, was trained outside Ireland. Five of the last 10 winners started favourite and all bar Bob Olinger, in 2021, were sent off at odds-on.

It is also worth noting that the Challow Novices’ Hurdle, run over an extended two and a half miles at Newbury in late December, has proved a poor trial for the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle. The Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle could hardly be described as a trial for the Champion Hurdle, but a trio of notable winners, Istabraq (1997), Hardy Eustace (2003) and Faugheen (2014), went on to win the two-mile hurdling championship half a dozen times between them.

Sponsored, since 2021, by investment firm Brown Advisory and racing group Merriebelle Stable and hence run, for sponsorship purposes, as the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, the Broadway Novices’ Chase is currently scheduled as the second race on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival. A Grade 1 contest run over an extended three miles on the Old Course, the Broadway Novices’ Chase boasts an impressive roll of honour, featuring the likes of Mandarin, Arkle, Looks Like Trouble, Denman, Bobs Worth and Lord Windermere, all of whom went on to win the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Indeed, the late Pat Taaffe, best remember for his association with Arkle, remains the leading jockey in the history of the Broadway Novices’ Chase, having won on Coneyburrow (1953), Solfen (1960), Grallagh Cnoc (1961), Arkle (1963) and Proud Tarquin (1970). Likewise, compatriot Willie Mullins is the leading trainer with six winnes, namely Florida Pearl (1998), Rule Supreme (2004), Cooldine (2009), Don Poli (2015), Monkfish (2021) and Fact To File (2024).

As the name suggests, the Broadway Novices’ Chase is open to novice steeplechasers aged five years and upwards. However, it is worth noting that nine of the last ten winners were aged seven or eight years and six of the ten were sent off favourite. Blaklion (2016) and The Real Whacker (2023) both started at 8/1, making them, jointly, the longest-priced winners in the last decade. Previous course and/or distance form, preferably over fences, is desirable in a likely winner, as is winning form in a Graded race of some description.

Run over an extended two miles on the Old Course at Prestbury Park, the Champion Bumper is currently scheduled as the final race on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival. Although known by a colloquial and, historically, slightly disparaging, title, the race is officially a Standard Open National Hunt (NH) Flat Race and, as such, is the only one in which runners are not required to negotiate obstacles of any kind. It is, nonetheless, a Grade 1 contest, open to horses aged between four and six years, with a weight-for-age allowance for four-year-olds and a weight-for-sex allowance for fillies and mares.

Established, as the Festival Bumper, in 1992, the race has been sponsored by Weatherbys – which provides racing services to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – since 1997 and, consequently, run as the ‘Weatherbys Champion Bumper’ ever since. Invariably a valuable source of future winners, at the Cheltenham Festival and elsewhere, the Champion Bumper occasionally throws up an outstanding performer over hurdles and fences. Notable examples include Florida Pearl (1997), Cue Card (2010), Champagne Fever (2012) and Envoi Allen (2023).

The trainer of Florida Pearl and Champagne Fever, Willie Mullins, is the leading trainer in the history of the race with 13 wins, while his son Patrick, with four wins, is the leading jockey. In terms of ten-year trends, three favourites have won in the past decade and no winner in that period has been officially rated less than 120 by the BHA; the highest-rated was, in fact, Facile Vega (138) in 2022.