Hunters' Chase Tips & Odds 2027

The Festival Hunters' Chase is run on Friday 19 March 2027, the fourth and final day of the Festival. It was run at 16:40 in 2026, and the official 2027 time is still to be confirmed.

Watch the race live on ITV and Racing TV, which also offer options to stream the race via their streaming services.

Alternatively most bookmakers offer a free live horse racing stream allowing you to watch the race after you've placed a bet.

Hunter chase horses tend to move into this sphere in the closing stages of their careers, so On The Fringe proved to be an exception to the rule, making his debut in this sphere as a five-year-old, and he developed into an excellent hunter chase performer. Having finished fourth and third in the 2011 and 2014 renewals respectively, On The Fringe took a step up to win the then Foxhunter Chase in 2015, going on to complete a remarkable hat-trick by following up at Aintree and then Punchestown in the following two months. On The Fringe wasn’t finished there, and returned 12 months later to seal a remarkable double hat-trick by winning all three races once again in 2016, and sealing an astonishing fifth win in the Punchestown race in the process.

The Hunters' Chase is a specialised event, meaning that to qualify, a horse must have finished first or second in two hunter chase races during the season, or have performed well in point-to-point races - or a combination of the two. As such, it’s worth keeping an eye on the sphere in general for eye-catching performances, though some races are more popular than others as warm-up races - for example, Pacha Du Polder used the same race at Doncaster as a warm-up for each of his wins, while the hunter chase on the Morebattle Hurdle card at Kelso usually attracts a talented runner or two.

The most successful jockey in the Hunters' or Foxhunter Chase since 1946 is Colman Sweeney, who has ridden the winner of the race on three occasions, with Sleeping Night (2005) and Salsify (2012 & 2013).

The joint-most successful trainers in the history of the Hunter's or  Foxhunter Chase are Richard Barber and Paul Nicholls, with four wins each. Nicholls’ four wins in the race have come courtesy of Earthmover (2004), Sleeping Night (2005), and Pacha Du Polder (2017 & 2018), while Barber’s four winners came with Rushing Wild (1992), Fantus (1995 & 1997) and Earthmover (1998).