The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is a Grade 3
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 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
The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...
in March.
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
Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...
,
Leicester and
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
. 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.
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. The maximum number of runners in the race was reduced from 24 to 20 from the 2019 running after a
British Horseracing Authority
The British Horseracing Authority, also known simply as the BHA, is the regulatory authority for horse racing in Great Britain.
It was formed on 31 July 2007, after the merger of the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulato ...
review into fatalities at the Cheltenham Festival; the 2018 running of the Grand Annual had seen three horses suffer fatal injuries.
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.
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
* ''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.''
See also
*
Horse racing in Great Britain
Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total d ...
*
List of British National Hunt races
A list of notable National Hunt horse races which take place annually in Great Britain, under the authority of the British Horseracing Authority, including all races which currently hold Grade 1, 2 or 3 status.
History of the National Hunt Patter ...
*
Recurring sporting events established in 1834 '' – this race is included under its former title, Grand Annual Chase.''
References
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Racing Post:
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pedigreequery.com– ''Grand Annual Chase – Cheltenham.''
– ''Racenews Archive (21 February 2008).''
*
{{Cheltenham Festival
National Hunt races in Great Britain
Cheltenham Racecourse
National Hunt chases
1834 establishments in England