Savills Chase Odds

What is the Savills Chase?

The Savills Chase is a Grade One race run over a trip of three miles at Leopardstown Racecourse each December.

The Savills is one of the most high profile and important of the Irish jumps racing season and also acts as a key trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. Any horse that performs well at Leopardstown during the Christmas Festival will automatically be placed towards the head of the ante-post Gold Cup betting which adds an extra layer of significance.

The Leopardstown Christmas meeting is one of the traditional fixtures of the season in Ireland and we are once again going to expect packed stands for Savills Chase day on December.28th.

What happened in the 2020 Savills Chase?

Despite British runners being prohibited from travelling over due to restrictions around the pandemic, the field for the 2020 renewal of the Savills Chase couldn't have been stronger, and featured Ireland's best staying chasers. The race was turned upside down at the half way stage with the departures of the 2019 winner Delta Work and the hot favourite Minella Indo, leaving the 2018 winner Kemboy to dictate matters from the front. 

Kemboy seemed to be getting the better of a magnificent duel with stablemate Melon in the closing stages, but both horses were dramatically gathered in by A Plus Tard, who got up in the dying strides to catapult himself into the picture for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. 

The history of the Savills Chase

The Savills Chase, as we know it now, was first run in 1992 at Leopardstown and has grown in stature ever since as one of the key staying chases on the calendar in the UK and Ireland.

The Savills has been known by a number of names down the years including the Ericsson and Lexus Chase until the current sponsors took over the role in 2018. The very best horses of the past 30 years have stopped off at Leopardstown at Christmas with legends like Beef Or Salmon, Best Mate, Denman and Tidal Bat all claiming the honours in recent years.

The Savills Chase is the highlight of the meeting at the Dublin venue and we are once again expecting a stellar cast-list of runners to take each other on this season.

Who is the most iconic winner of the Savills Chase?

We have already mentioned a host of legends to have won the Savills Chase with Denman perhaps the stand out name alongside three-time winner Beef Or Salmon who made this race their own.

Denman was a remarkable horse who won a Gold Cup and two Hennessy Gold Cups during his remarkable career and he even showed he could travel as he headed to Leopardstown back in 2007 to claim the win. It isn't easy for any horse to travel from the UK to Ireland and win and kudos should go to Paul Nicholls who was brave enough to send one of his stable-stars across the Irish Sea.

Denman would go on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup just a few months later but his Leopardstown win should not be forgotten.

Are there any trials for the Savills Chase?

The lion share of the horses for the Savills Chase will come from a number of races in November and December with the Clonmel Oil Chase and the John Durkan just two contests that can be used as stepping stones towards the big one at Leopardstown. One other race to keep a close eye on each season in the Down Royal Champion Chase at the start of November with the winner more often than not likely to head to the Savills Chase on their next start of the campaign.

In 2018 we saw Kemboy win the Clonmel Oil on his final start before the Savills Chase.

Who is the most successful jockey in the Savills Chase?

Paul Carberry was a master in the saddle during his career with the Irish raider second to none as a horseman and he loved nothing more than claiming the Savills Chase at Leopardstown. Carberry won the race on Dorans Pride (1998), Beef Or Salmon (2004 + 2005) and Pandorama (2010).

Who is the most successful trainer in the Savills Chase?

Some great names of Irish racing have trained the Savills Chase winner down the years but none can match Michael Hourigan who won the great race five times. Hourigan saddled Deep Bramble (1993), Dorans Pride (1998) and Beef Or Salmon (2002, 2004 + 2005) to victory in the Christmas Grade One.