The John Francome Novices' Chase is a Grade 2

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: ...

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 Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newbury, Berkshire, over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (2 miles 3 furlongs and 187 yards, or 4,367 metres), and during its running there are sixteen fences to be jumped. The race is 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 A profession is a field of work that has ...

chasers, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late November or early December. Prior to 1991 the event was known as the Hopeful Chase, but was then renamed as the Fulke Walwyn Novices' Chase, in memory of the racehorse trainer

Fulke Walwyn Fulke Thomas Tyndall Walwyn CVO (8 November 1910 – 18 February 1991) was a British jockey and a celebrated racehorse trainer, who was particularly successful in National Hunt racing. Life Walwyn was born in Wrexham. His twin sister, Helen Joh ...

. It attained Listed status in 2001, and it was promoted to Grade 2 level in 2004. The race was renamed the Berkshire Novices' Chase in 2006. From 2011 to 2016 the race was sponsored by

Fuller's Brewery Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick in the west of London was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019. In that year, the brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi. J ...

and run as the Fuller's London Pride Novices' Chase. Since 2017 it has been sponsored by

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are c ...

. The race was given its current name in 2023 after the previous John Francome Novices' Chase, a three-mile race, was withdrawn from the calendar.

Records

Leading jockey since 1987 (4 wins): *

Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival. Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997 and three years later he became the Irish Champio ...

– ''The Market Man (2008), Punchestowns (2009),

Bobs Worth Bobs Worth (21 May 2005 – 20 January 2022) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in 2011, the RSA Chase in 2012 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2013 at the Cheltenham Festival, ma ...

(2011), Champ (2019)'' Leading trainer since 1987 (8 wins): *

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

– ''

Remittance Man In British history, a remittance man was an emigrant, often from Britain to a British colony, supported by regular payments from home on the expectation that he stay away. In this sense, remittance means the opposite of what it does now, i.e. mo ...

(1990), Bacchanal (2000), Katarino (2001), The Market Man (2008), Punchestowns (2009),

(2011), Champ (2019), Caribean Boy (2020) ''

Winners since 1987

References

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pedigreequery.com
– ''Berkshire Novices' Chase – Newbury''. National Hunt races in Great Britain Newbury Racecourse National Hunt chases

Records

Winners since 1987

See also

References