Old Roan Chase Tips & Odds

Old Roan Chase Tips 

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What is the Old Roan Chase?

Run over a distance of two and a half miles, the Grade 2 Monet's Garden Old Roan Chase is a limited handicap chase, and traditionally takes place on a Sunday at Aintree at the end of October each year.  

Held on the Mildmay Course, the race is named after the Nicky Richards-trained Monet's Garden, who won the race on three occasions between 2007 and 2010. The race regularly features a big name chaser, and has been won by several subsequent Cheltenham Festival winners, including Kauto Star and Frodon.  

What happened in the 2023 Old Roan Chase?

Jetoile was a shock 25/1 winner of the Old Roan Chase as the outsider of the field beat Minella Drama by nearly two lengths in a real turn-up.

The history of the Old Roan Chase

The Old Roan began life in 2004 as the Wigan Chase, before being renamed to its current title a year later. 

The race has been contested by some illustrious names over the years, particularly in its early days, when the great Kauto Star won the race in 2006 before going on to win the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup later that season. He would return to defend his crown in the Old Roan Chase as the reigning Gold Cup winner the following season, when tasked with defying an official mark of 179, but he was thwarted by the Nicky Richards-trained Monet's Garden, who would go on to win three renewals of this race in his own right.

The fact that the race is a limited handicap means that nowadays the race tends to involve horses who are looking to step into graded company rather than ready-made Gold Cup contenders, but some smart types have won the race of late, including the subsequent Ryanair Chase winner Frodon in 2018. 

Who is the most iconic winner of the Old Roan Chase? 

Although some big names have contested the Old Roan Chase over the years, the most iconic winner of the race is undoubtedly the horse after whom the horse is named, the three-time winner Monet's Garden. 

A three-time Grade 1 winner, winning the Melling Chase at Aintree (2007) and the Ascot Chase twice (2007 and 2010), Monet's Garden's finest moments arguably came away from the Old Roan, but the horse built up a real affinity with the race, contesting it on four occasions in total, and winning three of those outings. 

Monet's Garden took some notable scalps with his Old Roan wins, too, edging out the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star when winning this for the first time in 2007, before defeating the likes of the 2010 Grand National winner Don't Push It, the Grade 1-winning chaser Tidal Bay and three-time Cheltenham Festival winner Albertas Run in his subsequent two successes. 

Monet's Garden's third and final victory in the Old Roan Chase was arguably his most special, when returning as a 12-year-old and defeating a rival in Poqeulin who was five years his junior in a thrilling finish - in what would prove to be his swan song. Monet's Garden died aged 20 in 2018, after a long and productive retirement - being named the Retraining of Racehorses Horse of the Year in 2016.

Are there any trials for the Old Roan Chase?

The Old Roan Chase is a traditional scene for a reappearance run, meaning that there are no trials as such for the race. It does however act as a platform to bigger and better things later in the season, and horses who take their chance in the Old Roan tend to target races such as the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury, the King George VI Chase at Kempton, the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham and both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. 

Who is the most successful jockey in the Old Roan Chase?

The winning most jockey in the history of the Old Roan Chase is the great A.P. McCoy, with two wins. McCoy's two wins in the Old Roan Chase came courtesy of Albertas Run in 2011 and Conquisto in 2013. 

Who is the most successful trainer in the Old Roan Chase?

The joint-winning most trainers in the history of the Old Roan Chase are Paul Nicholls and Nicky Richards, with three wins each. Richards's three Old Roan wins all came courtesy of the three-time winner of the race Monet's Garden (2007, 2009 and 2010), while Nicholls' three Old Roan Chase wins came with Kauto Star (2006), Sound Investment (2015) and Frodon (2018).