Festival Novices Steeple Chase

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We are looking forward to many races at Cheltenham in 2022, and one of the big ones is the Festival Novices Steeple Chase. Horses aged five and older contest the Grade 1 National Hunt chase, held at the Cheltenham racing course. Horses have to run 3 miles and ½ furloughs to win the grand prize, which stands at £175,000.

We love this annual event because it keeps us on the edge of our seats, and it’s a traditional race that is always popular with punters.

Festival Novices’ Steeple Chase: Tips and Predictions

Note: the predictions below refer to the 2021 running of this race – preview will be updated closer to the beginning of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.

It shouldn’t take long before those Irish eyes are smiling as MONKFISH looks far too tasty for his rivals in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. He won the Albert Bartlett over 3m here last season and has looked every inch a superstar in the making this season since going chasing. He scared off most of his rivals for this and could be a Gold Cup winner of the future.

The Big Breakaway has to jump better but has a significant engine, and perhaps Scilly Isles winner Sporting John might be second-best. That Sandown performance was quite something given he didn’t appear at all happy early on, but he picked off Grade 1 winner Shan Blue at his leisure in the end. That form may give him an edge on the Tizzard horse.

Enda McElhinney’s Selection: Monkfish

2021 Winner: Monkfish (P Townend) 1/4 Fav

Festival Novices’ Steeple Chase: Betting Odds

Festival Novices’ Steeple Chase: Recent Winners