Ultima Handicap Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Cheltenham Festival)

2025 Ultima Handicap Chase Preview

The Ultima Handicap Chase features on the opening day of the festival at the Cheltenham racecourse, it is also known as the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase. A 3m1f Handicap Chase normally run at a good speed and can, therefore, be a real test of stamina. The race often features past and future Grand National Runners.

Despite being a handicap this has been a good race for punters over the years with horses near the front of the market showing a good return. Below we highlight some key pointers, looking at trends and discussing the form to help you to find the winner of the Ultima Handicap Chase.

We have some very knowledgeable racing tipsters on OLBG and some who specialise in handicaps at the festival so why not head over to see their Cheltenham predictions?

Ultima Handicap Chase Information:

• Ultima Handicap Chase Past Winners
• Ultima Handicap Chase Trainer Statistics
• Ultima Handicap Chase Jockey Statistics

Our dedicated Cheltenham tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the Ultima Handicap Chase but will also have predictions for each meeting at Cheltenham throughout the season so be sure to head over there. We cover every race at the Cheltenham Festival and below you can find links to all of the races for each of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.

How competitive is the Ultima Handicap Chase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 122%. The race in 2023 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 138%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Ultima Handicap Chase, the over-round has been 129%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £129 which is bet.

Ultima Handicap Chase Trends:

• 2025 Ultima Handicap Chase Trends
• Ultima Handicap Chase Trend Analysis

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Ultima Handicap Chase next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -5.50. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page so you can get easy access to the OLBG racing picks daily.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was the Jonjo O'Neill trained Holywell ridden by Richie McLernon who set the fastest winning time in the Ultima Handicap Chase, the runner won the race in a time of 6:01.80 was set when winning the race in 2014. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Kim Bailey and jockey David Bass with Chianti Classico who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 6:55.79 in the 2024 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run Ultima Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals:

1. Holywell (6:01.80) in 2014
2. Alfie Sherrin (6:08.60) in 2012
3. Kelami (6:08.60) in 2005

Ultima Handicap Chase Past Winners

Here are the Ultima Handicap Chase past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. The trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Ultima Handicap Chase as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Ultima Handicap Chase have been based:

• GB: 17 winners with an additional 47 placings from 366 runners
• FR: 2 winners with an additional 2 placings from 12 runners
• IRE: 1 winner with an additional 10 placings from 49 runners

Ultima Handicap Chase Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the Ultima Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals with both Jonjo O'Neill and David Pipe who have both won the race three times. Jonjo O'Neill's winners have been Wichita Lineman (2009), Alfie Sherrin (2012) and Holywell (2014). David Pipe winners have been with An Accordion (2008) and Un Temps Pour Tout (2016 & 2017). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Ultima Handicap Chase is Lucinda Russell (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ultima Handicap Chase, Nigel Twiston-Davies (0-28), Venetia Williams (0-26), Paul Nicholls (0-18) and Gordon Elliott (0-12) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Ultima Handicap Chase trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Ultima Handicap Chase Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Ultima Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals with Richie McLernon, Brendan Powell and Derek Fox having all won the race two times. Richie McLernon winners have been with Alfie Sherrin (2012) and Holywell (2014). Brendan Powell's winners have been with Golden Chieftain (2013) and The Conditional (2020). Derek Fox winners have been with Corach Rambler (2022 & 2023). Multiple jockeys have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ultima Handicap Chase, Sam Twiston-Davies (0-12), Aidan Coleman (0-11) and Paddy Brennan (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple rides to the race.

Here are some of the top Ultima Handicap Chase jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

2025 Ultima Handicap Chase Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 9, PU, (2, 3, 6), 3, 1, 2, F, (7, 10), 2, 8, 8, 7, 2, 1, (8, PU, PU), (3, 4), 2, 10, (1, 3), 5

The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.

• 20 / 20 (76%) - Off a break of 18 - 114 days
• 20 / 20 (77%) - Highest Run is not G3/Cl2-3
• 20 / 20 (79%) - Furthest Won 2m5½f - 4m1f
• 20 / 20 (79%) - Achieved a TS of 101+ (Last 3)
• 20 / 20 (79%) - Furthest Placed 3m - 4m1f
• 20 / 20 (81%) - Not BL/BR/CH in colour
• 20 / 20 (86%) - Carried 141 - 166lbs (Debut)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Made 3 - 10 starts (1 Year)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Beaten no more -35l (LTO)
• 20 / 20 (89%) - Had 2 - 8 wins (Career)
• 20 / 20 (89%) - Ran over 2m4½f - 3m5½f (LTO)
• 19 / 20 (79%) - No bigger than 25/1 (Career Place)
• 19 / 20 (89%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Career Win)
• 18 / 20 (66%) - No bigger than 28/1
• 18 / 20 (87%) - No bigger than 10/1 (Last Win)

Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Cheltenham racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Ultima Handicap Chase. If you are looking to place on a bet this race well in advance of the actual running, then there may be an ante-post market available for you to place your bet. If you are unfamiliar with this type of betting then head over to the OLBG Betting School and read our Ante-Post Horse Racing article which explains how ante-post betting works.

Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Ultima Handicap Chase by adding a tip on the race here.

Ultima Handicap Chase Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +52.50 is when runners had recorded 1 career fall. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a highest class run of Class 1 (G3), when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-77.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Ultima Handicap Chase is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Haydock and Doncaster, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 420 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 7 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Ultima Handicap Chase:

• Jeremy (2 Wins)
• Kings Theatre (2 Wins)
• Robin Des Champs (2 Wins)
• Shantou (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Ultima Handicap Chase despite multiple attempts:

• Flemensfirth (0 Wins from 16 runners)
• Milan (0 Wins from 12 runners)
• Oscar (0 Wins from 10 runners)
• Presenting (0 Wins from 10 runners)
• Old Vic (0 Wins from 9 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Joes Edge in 2007, winning for Ferdy Murphy at odds of 50/1 under the guidance of Davy Russell. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 3 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Ultima Handicap Chase remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Schedule for Tuesday at the Cheltenham Festival

Prepare for the ROAR of the Cheltenham Festival on the opening day when the tape goes up for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, the feature on Tuesday is the Champion Hurdle.

Schedule for Wednesday at the Cheltenham Festival

The dust has settled on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and now on to day two. The feature on the second day is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. We also have the cross country scheduled on Wednesday, a race like Marmite, some love it and some don't!

Schedule for Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival

Halfway through the festival and onto day three where the Stayers Hurdle is the feature race. A hurdle race to test the stamina and see how can last best up the Cheltenham hill.

Schedule for Friday at the Cheltenham Festival

The final day of the festival and feature race that we have all been waiting for, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in which the Irish have been fairly dominant in recent years.