Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase
The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile 7 furlongs and 199 yards, or 3,199 metres), and during its running there are fourteen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Premier Handicap race | |
Location | Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham, England |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1834 |
Race type | Chase |
Website | Cheltenham |
Race information | |
Distance | 1m 7f 99y (3,499 metres) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | Five-years-old and up |
Weight | Handicap |
Purse | £125,500 (2023) 1st: £70,338 |
2023 | ||
Maskada | Dinoblue | Global Citizen |
Previous years | ||
---|---|---|
2022 | ||
Global Citizen | Andy Dufresne | Frero Banbou |
2021 | ||
Sky Pirate | Entoucas | Ibleo |
2020-2011 | ||
---|---|---|
2020 | ||
Chosen Mate | Eclair De Beaufeu | Us And Them |
2019 | ||
Croco Bay | Bun Doran | Brelan D'As |
2018 | ||
Le Prezien | Gino Trail | Top Gamble |
2017 | ||
Rock The World | Gardefort | Theinval |
2016 | ||
Solar Impulse | Dandridge | Rock The World |
2015 | ||
Next Sensation | Eastlake | Croco Bay |
2014 | ||
Savello | Ned Buntline | Claret Cloak |
2013 | ||
Alderwood | Kid Cassidy | Oiseau de Nuit |
2012 | ||
Bellvano | Tanks For That | Kumbeshwar |
2011 | ||
Oiseau de Nuit | Askthemaster | Leo's Lucky Star |
2010-2001 | ||
---|---|---|
2010 | ||
Pigeon Island | French Opera | Consigliere |
2009 | ||
Oh Crick | Moon Over Miami | French Opera |
2008 | ||
Tiger Cry | My Petra | Calatagan |
2007 | ||
Andreas | Hasty Prince | Ground Ball |
2006 | ||
Greenhope | Tiger Cry | Madison Du Berlais |
2005 | ||
Fota Island | Bambi De L'orme | Caracciola |
2004 | ||
St Pirran | Ground Ball | Reiziger |
2003 | ||
Palarshan | Risk Accessor | Dark'n Sharp |
2002 | ||
Fadoudal Du Cochet | Exit Swinger | Dark'n Sharp |
2000-1991 | ||
---|---|---|
2000 | ||
Samakaan | Green Green Desert | Aghawadda Gold |
1999 | ||
Space Trucker | Dines | Hurricane Lamp |
1998 | ||
Edredon Bleu | Tidebrook | Cumbrian Challenge |
1997 | ||
Uncle Ernie | Elzoba | Perknapp |
1996 | ||
Kibreet | Easthorpe | Uncle Ernie |
1995 | ||
Sound Reveille | Auburn Castle | Around The Horn |
1994 | ||
Snitton Lane | Uncle Ernie | Storm Alert |
1993 | ||
Space Fair | Shamana | Storm Alert |
1992 | ||
My Young Man | Whatever You Like | Wide Boy |
1991 | ||
Aldino | Star's Delight | Another Coral |
1990-1988 | ||
---|---|---|
1990 | ||
Katabatic | Tresidder | Gold Options |
1989 | ||
Pukka Major | Clay Hill | Ida's Delight |
1988 | ||
Vodkatini | Clay Hill | Mr Key |
History
The Grand Annual is the oldest race at the Festival, and it is also the oldest chase in the present National Hunt calendar. It was first run in April 1834, and it was initially contested over three miles of open country at Andoversford, near Cheltenham. The race was discontinued in the 1860s, but it was revived at the turn of the century. During the early 1900s it took place at several different venues, including Melton Mowbray, Leicester and Warwick. It returned to Cheltenham in 1913.
The name of Johnny Henderson (1920–2003), a banker and racehorse owner, was added to the race's title in 2005. Henderson, the father of trainer Nicky, realized in the early 1960s that the racecourse at Cheltenham was attracting the interest of property developers. To safeguard its future, and that of the Festival, Henderson and other Jockey Club members formed the Racecourse Holdings Trust, and raised £240,000 to purchase the venue.[1]
The running order of the races at the Cheltenham Festival was altered slightly in 2009, and the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase became the last event on the final day. A further change for the 2019 meeting moved the race to become the penultimate race on the final day, switching places with the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle.[2] The maximum number of runners in the race was reduced from 24 to 20 from the 2019 running after a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) review into fatalities at the Cheltenham Festival; the 2018 running of the Grand Annual had seen three horses suffer fatal injuries.[3] In 2021 another change in the Festival running order saw the Grand Annual moved to the second day of the meeting and therefore switch from Cheltenham's New Course to the Old Course. The race held Grade 3 status until 2022 and was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2023 running when Grade 3 status was renamed by the BHA.[4]
Records
Most successful horse since 1946 (2 wins):
- Top Twenty – 1958, 1959
- Dulwich – 1974, 1976
Leading jockey since 1946 (4 wins):
- Graham Bradley – Pearlyman (1986), My Young Man (1992), Sound Reveille (1995), Uncle Ernie (1997)
Leading trainer since 1946 (4 wins):
- Paul Nicholls – St Pirran (2004), Andreas (2007), Solar Impulse (2016), Le Prezien (2018)
Winners since 1946
Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | Loyal King | 6 | 11–12 | Dan Moore | Fulke Walwyn |
1947 | Rope Trick | 6 | 10-08 | Tony Doyle | Verly Bewicke |
1948 | Clare Man | 7 | 10-03 | Charlie Hook | Walter Nightingall |
no race 1949 [lower-alpha 1] | |||||
1950 | Norborne | 6 | 11-04 | Eddie Reavey | Geoffrey Champneys |
1951 | Merry Court | 6 | 10–11 | Tim Molony | Tom Yates |
1952 | Marcianus | 6 | 11-02 | Tim Molony | George Beeby |
1953 | Rose & Crown | 6 | 10-00 | Johnny Bullock | Fulke Walwyn |
1954 | Hipparchus | 5 | 10-01 | Jack Dowdeswell | Peter Rice-Stringer |
no race 1955 [lower-alpha 1] | |||||
1956 | Rosenkavalier | 7 | 10-06 | Harry Sprague | Bob Turnell |
1957 | Sir Edmund | 7 | 10–12 | Bert Morrow | Alec Kilpatrick |
1958 | Top Twenty | 9 | 10-07 | Francis Shortt | Clem Magnier |
1959 | Top Twenty | 10 | 12-06 | Fred Winter | Clem Magnier |
1960 | Monsieur Trois Etoiles | 8 | 11-06 | Frankie Carroll | Jimmy Brogan |
1961 | Barberyn | 6 | 11-00 | Michael Scudamore | Willie Stephenson |
1962 | Moretons | 9 | 10–12 | Bill Rees | Peter Cazalet |
1963 | Anner Loch | 8 | 10-06 | David Nicholson | John Hicks |
1964 | Richard of Bordeaux | 9 | 11-03 | Willie Robinson | Fulke Walwyn |
1965 | Fort Rouge | 7 | 11-00 | George Milburn | Ken Oliver |
1966 | Well Packed | 8 | 10–11 | Tommy Stack | Bobby Renton |
1967 | San Angelo | 7 | 11-01 | John Buckingham | Edward Courage |
1968 | Hal's Farewell | 7 | 10-10 | Jeff King | Peter Bailey |
1969 | All Glory | 8 | 10-00 | Anthony Robinson[lower-alpha 2] | John Edwards |
1970 | Fortina's Palace | 7 | 11-11 | Peter Jones | Michael Scudamore |
1971 | Khan | 7 | 10-08 | Frankie Carroll | Mick Burke |
1972 | Tudor Dance | 6 | 10-02 | Jeff King | Bob Turnell |
1973 | Coolera Prince | 8 | 10-10 | Nigel Wakley | Tim Handel |
1974 | Dulwich | 7 | 10-01 | Taffy Salaman | Colin Davies |
no race 1975 [lower-alpha 3] | |||||
1976 | Dulwich | 9 | 11-07 | Bob Davies | Colin Davies |
1977 | Tom Morgan | 8 | 11-06 | Tommy Stack | Ken Oliver |
1978 | Young Arthur | 9 | 11-04 | Allen Webb | Derek Kent |
1979 | Casbah | 12 | 11–13 | Graham Thorner | Tim Forster |
1980 | Stopped | 8 | 11–12 | Ben de Haan | Fred Winter |
1981 | Friendly Alliance | 8 | 10-07 | John Francome | Fred Winter |
1982 | Reldis | 8 | 10-00 | Paul Barton | David Gandolfo |
1983 | Churchfield Boy | 7 | 10-00 | Joe Byrne | Michael Cunningham |
1984 | Mossy Moore | 8 | 10-00 | Jonjo O'Neill | Brian Chinn |
1985 | Kathies Lad | 8 | 11-10 | Steve Smith Eccles | Alan Jarvis |
1986 | Pearlyman | 7 | 11-05 | Graham Bradley | John Edwards |
1987 | French Union | 9 | 11-03 | Richard Dunwoody | David Nicholson |
1988 | Vodkatini | 9 | 10–13 | Richard Rowe | Josh Gifford |
1989 | Pukka Major | 8 | 10-02 | Peter Scudamore | Tim Thomson Jones |
1990 | Katabatic | 7 | 10-08 | Hywel Davies | Andrew Turnell |
1991 | Aldino | 8 | 10-00 | Jamie Osborne | Oliver Sherwood |
1992 | My Young Man | 7 | 11-10 | Graham Bradley | Charlie Brooks |
1993 | Space Fair | 10 | 11-01 | Adrian Maguire | Richard Lee |
1994 | Snitton Lane | 8 | 10-00 | David Bridgwater | William Clay |
1995 | Sound Reveille | 7 | 10-10 | Graham Bradley | Charlie Brooks |
1996 | Kibreet | 9 | 10–12 | Tony McCoy | Philip Hobbs |
1997 | Uncle Ernie | 12 | 11-04 | Graham Bradley | Jimmy FitzGerald |
1998 | Edredon Bleu | 6 | 11-06 | Tony McCoy | Henrietta Knight |
1999 | Space Trucker | 8 | 10-01 | Shay Barry | Jessica Harrington |
2000 | Samakaan | 7 | 10–11 | Norman Williamson | Venetia Williams |
no race 2001 [lower-alpha 4] | |||||
2002 | Fadoudal du Cochet | 9 | 10-00 | David Casey | Arthur Moore |
2003 | Palarshan | 5 | 10-00 | Mark Bradburne | Henry Daly |
2004 | St Pirran | 9 | 10-01 | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
2005 | Fota Island | 9 | 10-00 | Paul Carberry | Mouse Morris |
2006 | Greenhope | 8 | 10–11 | Andrew Tinkler | Nicky Henderson |
2007 | Andreas | 7 | 10–11 | Robert Thornton | Paul Nicholls |
2008 | Tiger Cry | 10 | 10-06 | Davy Russell | Arthur Moore |
2009 | Oh Crick | 6 | 10-00 | Wayne Hutchinson | Alan King |
2010 | Pigeon Island | 7 | 10-01 | Paddy Brennan | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
2011 | Oiseau de Nuit | 9 | 10–13 | Steven Clements | Colin Tizzard |
2012 | Bellvano | 8 | 10-02 | Paul Carberry | Nicky Henderson |
2013 | Alderwood | 9 | 10–11 | Tony McCoy | Thomas Mullins |
2014 | Savello | 8 | 11-05 | Davy Russell | Tony Martin |
2015 | Next Sensation | 8 | 11-02 | Tom Scudamore | Michael Scudamore, Jr. |
2016 | Solar Impulse | 6 | 11-00 | Sam Twiston-Davies | Paul Nicholls |
2017 | Rock the World | 9 | 11-05 | Robbie Power | Jessica Harrington |
2018 | Le Prezien | 7 | 11-08 | Barry Geraghty | Paul Nicholls |
2019 | Croco Bay | 12 | 10-12 | Kielan Woods | Ben Case |
2020 | Chosen Mate | 7 | 11-04 | Davy Russell | Gordon Elliott |
2021 | Sky Pirate | 8 | 11-06 | Nick Scholfield | Jonjo O'Neill |
2022 | Global Citizen | 10 | 10-06 | Kielan Woods | Ben Pauling |
2023 | Maskada | 7 | 11-01 | Darragh O'Keeffe | Henry De Bromhead |
- The race was cancelled in 1949 due to frost, and in 1955 due to snow
- amateur jockey
- It was abandoned in 1975 due to waterlogging
- The 2001 running was cancelled because of a foot-and-mouth crisis
See also
- Horse racing in Great Britain
- List of British National Hunt races
- Recurring sporting events established in 1834 – this race is included under its former title, Grand Annual Chase.
References
- "Johnny Henderson obituary". independent.co.uk. 24 December 2003. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- Mottershead, Lee (4 February 2019). "Conditionals to close Cheltenham Festival after switching with Grand Annual". Racing Post.
- Barber, Bill (12 December 2018). "BHA unveils 17 recommendations from welfare review of Cheltenham Festival". Racing Post.
- "Jump Pattern Committee update 22/23 season". British Horseracing Authority. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- pedigreequery.com – Grand Annual Chase – Cheltenham.
- racenewsonline.co.uk – Racenews Archive (21 February 2008).
- Ladbrokes Pocket Companion 1990/91. Aesculus Press. 1990. p. 58. ISBN 1-871093-21-X.