The Centenary Novices' Handicap Chase, known for sponsorship purposes as the Paddy's Reward Club Novices' Handicap Chase, is a Listed

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse rac ...

over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (2 miles 4 furlongs and 10 yards, or 4,033 metres), and during its running there are sixteen fences to be jumped. It was a handicap race for

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

chasers with a handicap rating between 0 and 145, and it takes place each year in March. The event was originally run at Cheltenham Racecourse and was established when a fourth day was added to the Cheltenham Festival in 2005. The winning ride by Mattie Batchelor in the inaugural edition subsequently won the

Lester Award __NOTOC__ A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races ...

for Jump Ride of the Year. The race was sponsored by

Jewson Jewson is one of the largest chains of British general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors. The chain comprises around 600 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's STARK Group. H ...

from 2005 to 2010 and run as the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase on the third day of the Festival. Jewson transferred their sponsorship to a new race at the 2011 Festival, the

Jewson Novices' Chase The Golden Miller Novices' Chase, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Turners Novices' Chase, is a Grade One National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the N ...

, which remained on the third day while the Novices' Handicap Chase was moved to become the final race on the opening day of the Festival. The race title commemorated the centenary of the Cheltenham Festival in 2011. In 2012 the race was sponsored by Pulteney Land Investments and from 2013 to 2014 by Rewards4Racing. In 2015 it was sponsored by Chaps Restaurants Barbados and from 2016 to 2019 the race was sponsored by

Close Brothers Group Close Brothers Group plc is a UK merchant banking group, providing lending, deposit taking, wealth management and securities trading. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Close ...

. The race's sponsors in 2020 were

Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Chicago that caters to corporations, institutional investors, and ultra high net worth individuals. Northern Trust is one of the largest banking institutions in the Un ...

and since 2021 it has been sponsored by

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

. The Centenary Novices' Chase was removed from the Festival programme in 2021 to make way for a new steeplechase for

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

s, the Liberthine Mares' Chase and was transferred to the meeting which takes place at Sandown Park a few days before the Cheltenham Festival. The race held Listed status until 2022 and was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2023 running when Listed status was removed from handicap races.

Records

Leading jockey (2 wins): * Graham Lee - ''L'Antartique (2007), Divers (2011)'' * Brian Hughes – ''Ballyalton (2016), Mister Whitaker (2018)'' * Brendan Powell jnr - ''Present View (2014), Killer Kane (2022)'' Leading trainer (2 wins): * Ferdy Murphy - ''L'Antartique (2007), Divers (2011)''

Winners

* ''Weights given in

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

s and pounds.''

References

racenewsonline.co.uk
– ''Racenews Archive (February 21, 2008).'' ---- * Racing Post: ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , ---- {{Cheltenham Festival National Hunt races in Great Britain Cheltenham Racecourse National Hunt chases Recurring sporting events established in 2005 2005 establishments in England Sandown Park Racecourse

Records

Winners

See also

References