Cross Country Chase

The now retired Spot Thedifference won the first running of the cross country at the 2005 meeting, finished runner up in 2006 and finished fourth in 2007. Upon his retirement he had won on seven occasions over the cross country fences at Cheltenham!

Cross Country Chase Trends

7/7	were trained in Ireland (and 21 of the last 24 placed horses!)
7/7	were aged nine or older
6/7	had won over at least three miles
5/7	had won one of its last two starts
5/7	had previously won a cross country race
5/7	carried no more than 10st 13lbs

Cross Country Analysis

It usually pays to avoid horses that are having their first run in cross country races - course experience is the key!

Horses aged eight and under have a poor record in this race and this one of the few Festival races where it pays to go for the experienced horses.

The Enda Bolger stable have had cross country fences especially built to train the horses over and this has obviously paid dividends with four winners out of the seven races at the Festival and a remarkable 1-2-3 in the 2009 race.

The winner of the PP Hogan Cross Country Chase at Punchestown in February has gone on to win this race at Cheltenham in three of the last seven years. Our main selection for Cheltenham Scotsirish took the PP Hogan this year and further cemented his claims as the horse to beat in the Cross Country Chase at the Festival.

Cross Country Chase Last Seven Winners

Table below shows the last seven winners of the race, their age/weight at the time of winning, trainer, jockey and odds (starting price).

Year	Horse	Age/Wgt	Trainer	Jockey	Price
2011	Sizing Australia	9-10-9	H De Bromhead	A E Lynch	13/2
2010	A New Story	12-9-7	M Hourigan	AP Heskin	25/1
2009	Garde Champetre	10-11-12	E Bolger	Miss N Carberry	7/2
2008	Garde Champetre	9-10-13	E Bolger	Miss N Carberry	4/1
2007	Heads On The Ground	10-10-2	E Bolger	Miss N Carberry	5/2F
2006	Native Jack	12-10-8	P Rothwell	D Russell	7/2F
2005	Spot Thedifference	12-11-12	E Bolger	Mr J T McNamara	4/1

Cross Country Chase Preview and Tips

Enda Bolger’s domination of this race could be under threat with the introduction of a powerful new player into the Cross Country field: Willie Mullins.

Mullins has made the decision to target the big cross country races this year and his big players, Scotsirish and Uncle Junior, have both registered successes. Whilst the Cross Country races are great spectacles they tend not to have a great strength in depth and the two Mullins’ horses have a touch of class that has been lacking with the exception of the horses from the Bolger string.

With the majority of the Cross Country cards already played this post market is unlikely to develop that much until the day of the race and Scotsirish is advised as a win selection and Uncle Junior as the each-way call.

Scotsirish has yet to categorically prove that he will stay the extended trip of the Cheltenham Cross Country course but he appeared to be going very well when being forced to run out at the December meeting. He could well have too many guns for his opponents.

Uncle Junior’s strong suits are his stamina and ability to act on good ground. It's very difficult to see him out of the frame at the very least at the Festival. At 4/1 and 5/1 respectively (at the time when advised) the Mullins duo are likely to only contract in price before the Festival so we suggest backing them now.

Back Uncle Junior each-way with Bet 365 but our main bet is:

Cross Country Odds

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