Champion Chase Tips & Odds 2027

The race takes place at 16:00 on Wednesday 17th March 2027.

You can watch the race live on ITV and Racing TV, who also offer options to stream the race via their streaming services. 

Alternatively, you will find that most betting sites offer a free live horse racing stream allowing you to watch the race after you've placed a bet or if you have a funded betting account with some bookmakers.

Several legendary chasers could stake a strong claim to this title, though few Champion Chase winners pulled at the heartstrings quite like the Nicky Henderson-trained Sprinter Sacre. Having finished third in the 2011 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Sprinter Sacre quickly made the most of the switch to chasing, and finished his novice season with a perfect record of five wins out of five, taking apart the field in the 2012 Arkle Trophy. Sprinter Sacre quickly took control of the two-mile chase division, and his 19-length victory in the 2013 Queen Mother Champion Chase led to many declaring him to be the best horse since the great Arkle. However, the bubble would burst the following season, when Sprinter Sacre was pulled-up due to injury in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton, and subsequently diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

Many assumed that Sprinter Sacre’s best days were behind him, and he struggled to return to his brilliant best when eventually returning from injury in January 2015, suffering defeat on all three of his starts that season, including when pulled-up in the 2015 Champion Chase. However, he bounced back to winning ways on reappearance the following season, striking in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham, before following up in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton a month later. The presence of the previous year’s Arkle winner, Un De Sceaux, in the 2016 Champion Chase meant that Sprinter Sacre was widely expected to be playing for a place at best, but he found plenty of his old spark to take control of the race from two fences out, before holding on in the run in - to ensure that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. 

There are several recognised Champion Chase trials throughout the jumps season, with the most important being the Tingle Creek at Sandown in December (Saturday 5th December 2026), the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January and the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury in February. Other races to keep an eye on include the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter in November, the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham and the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton on Sunday 27th December 2026. Irish Champion Chase contenders regularly come through the two-mile Grade 1 and Grade 2 chases at Navan, Leopardstown and Punchestown.

The joint-most successful jockeys in the history of the Champion Chase are Pat Taaffe and Barry Geraghty, with five wins apiece. Taaffe’s five Champion Chase wins came on board Fortria (1960 & 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), and Straight Fort (1970), while Geraghty’s five wins in the Champion Chase came courtesy of Moscow Flyer (2003 & 2005), Big Zeb (2010), Finian’s Rainbow (2012), and Sprinter Sacre (2013).   

Tom Dreaper, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls share the record in the Champion Chase with six wins each. Nicholls’ winners were Call Equiname (1999), Azertyuiop (2004), Master Minded (2008 and 2009), Dodging Bullets (2015) and Politologue (2020), while Henderson won with Remittance Man (1992), Finian’s Rainbow (2012), Sprinter Sacre (2013 and 2016) and Altior (2018 and 2019).