Ryanair Chase

The Ryanair Chase is a Grade 1 steeplechase run over 2 miles, 4 furlongs and 127 yards on the New Course at Cheltenham in March. Open to horses aged five years and upwards, the race is a relatively recent addition to the Cheltenham Festival programme, having been inaugurated in 2005, when the Festival was extended from three days to four. The Ryanair Chase can be considered a replacement for the Cathcart Challenge Trophy, which was run for the last time in 2004, although in its final incarnation the Cathcart Challenge Trophy was restricted to steeplechasers in their first or second season. 

Officially registered as the Festival Trophy, the Ryanair Chase initially held Grade 2 status, but was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2008; the race has been sponsored by Irish budget airline Ryanair for all bar the inaugural running. Nowadays, the Ryanair Chase is the feature race on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival and is ideally suited to top-class steeplechasers who lack the speed required for the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the stamina required for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Two horses, namely Albertas Run (2010 and 2011) and Allaho (2021 and 2022), have won the Ryanair Chase twice. Willie Mullins, trainer of Allaho, also saddled Vautour (2016), Un de Sceaux (2017) and Min (2020) to victory and is the leading handler in the short history of the race. Looking ahead to the 2023 renewal of the Ryanair Chase, scheduled for 2.50pm on Thursday, March 15, Allaho could attempt an unprecedented hat-trick and is currently a short-priced favourite to do so. However, the opposition, headed by the likes of Galopin Des Champs – a desperately unlucky loser in the 2022 Turners Novices' Chase – looks certain to be strong, so adopting a waiting brief may be the best ploy.

Geoffrey Freer Stakes

Inaugurated, as the Oxfordshire Stakes, in 1949 by Geoffrey Freer, who was Clerk of the Course at Newbury Racecourse at the time, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes was renamed in honour of Freer following his death, in 1969. Run over an advertised distance of 1 mile 5½ furlongs and open to horses aged three years and upwards, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes is staged annually in August.

Nowadays, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes is a Group 3 contest, having been downgraded from Group 2 status in 2006. However, it has typically proved a strong race for the grade, with several recent winners – Mount Athos (2012), Royal Empire (2013) and Seismos (2014) – going on to contest the Melbourne Cup at Flemington, Australia, albeit without distinction, later the same season.

Just one horse, Mubtaker, trained by Marcus Tregoning, has won the Geoffrey Free Stakes three times; he recorded his unprecedented hat-trick in 2002, 2003 and 2004 to become the most successful horse in the history of the race. Other notable winners include Ardross, trained by Henry Cecil, who recorded back-to-back victories under Lester Piggott in 1981 and 1982, Drum Taps, trained by Lord Huntingdon, in 1991 and Silver Patriarch, trained by John Dunlop, in 1999. Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Frankie Dettori are jointly the leading jockeys in the history of the Geoffrey Freer Stakes with four wins apiece. Sir Noel Murless remains the leading trainer, with five wins between 1949 and 1973.

Paul Hanagan

Born on the 8th September 1980 and hailing from Cheshire, Paul Hanagan is a ex champion jockey of great acclaim in the flat racing world.

Having never been in the saddle until the late age of 14 and having had his eyes firmly fixed on a career on the green grass of a football field rather than a racetrack, Paul Hanagan was a graduate of the British Racing School after great encouragement from his father, Geoff Hanagan. Deemed ‘too small’ for professional football, he helped out as a weekend work experience stable hand for trainer Terry Caldwell, based in Warrington, which ultimately led to the pivotal moment when Hanagan realised that racing had gotten under his skin and into his blood.

Captivated by what he saw at Caldwell’s yard, Hanagan would get his first taste of being a jockey, being allowed to ride out at the age of 14 and begin training the British Racing School, graduating in 1997.

Breakthrough

Hanagan got his first taste of senior racing on Stone Beck 4 days shy of his 18th birthday , racing to a creditable 4th place under the stewardship of Malcolm Jefferson, who was better known for his work in National Hunt training. Jefferson knew his onions and he saw a promising flat jockey in Hanagan, guiding the young man to join Richard Fahey as an apprentice flat jockey just a year later.

Over the next four years, the apprentice jockey saw his promise turn into results, improving each season and gaining the title of Champion Apprentice in 2002. He did this by riding a highly impressive 87 winners, the 2nd most since the end of WWII, which included a win on Vintage Premium in the John Smith’s Cup.

Richard Fahey foretold a big future for Paul Hanagan and he wasn’t wrong. Having matured over the next few years, he won his first senior Champion Jockey title in 2010 with a brilliant 191 winners and then backing that up by winning it again in 2011, beating Silvestre De Sousa from Brazil on the very last day of the season.

After this great achievement, Hanagan took a brief sabbatical and stated that he need a break after all his efforts. He did return the next year, but he never again hit the heights of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. To this day, he attributes much of his success to Richard Fahey who he spent 14 years with and he will forever be included in the pantheon of great flat jockeys.

Sir Henry Cecil

Henry Cecil is one of the greatest British flat racing horse trainers in history. 

A 10-time Champion Trainer, he trained 25 Classic winners including four in The Derby, eight in The Oaks, six in the 1,000 Guineas, three in the 2,000 Guineas and four winners at St. Leger Stakes.

He was especially known for his success at The Oaks and 1,000 Guineas and as the master trainer at Royal Ascot, where he had 75 winners. 

Born in Scotland in 1943, Cecil began his career assisting at his stepfather, British flat racing Champion Trainer, Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort’s stable Freemason Lodge. In 1969 he obtained his training license and won his first English Classic, the 2,000 Guineas in 1975. A year later he took over the running of Warren Place in Newmarket, which quickly became known as the “most glamorous yard in Europe.” 

Noted for his flair in clothing, Cecil’s extraordinary career was marred by huge swings in fortune both and off the track. After a brief dip in success from 2000 to 2006, his career rebound with the training of Frankel. 

Described by Cecil as “the best horse I’ve ever seen,” Frankel was unbeaten in his fourteen-race career and was the highest-rated racehorse in the world from May 2011. His six Length victory in the 2,000 Guineas was called "one of the greatest displays on a British racecourse".

Knighted for services to horse racing in the queen’s 2011 Birthday Honors, Cecil died of stomach cancer age 70 in 2013 after a six-year battle.