The Jim Ford Challenge Cup was a

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: ...

Listed

chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

in England. It was run at

Wincanton Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a populati ...

over a distance of 3 miles and 1½ furlongs (5,130 metres), and it was scheduled to take place each year in February, on the same card as the

Kingwell Hurdle The Kingwell Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Wincanton over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile, 7 furlong ...

. The race was last run in 2008 having been turned into a handicap in 2006. During the eighties and early nineties the race regularly featured contests between David Elsworth's locally trained horses (Combs Ditch, Desert Orchid, Cavvies Clown, Lesley Ann) attempting to preserve local honour in the face of invasion by the big battalions from Lambourn (Burrough Hill Lad, Brown Chamberlin, Diamond Edge) and Yorkshire (Bregawn, Silver Buck). The race was named in honour of Jim Ford, a local trainer who won the 1955

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

with Gay Donald.

Winners since 1980

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

**, , , , , , , , , **, , , , , , , , , {{Racing Post, 448759, 2008, 02, 16, 90, wincanton National Hunt chases National Hunt races in Great Britain Wincanton Racecourse Discontinued horse races in Great Britain Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2008