The Arkle Chase is the championship race for 2-mile novice chasers.
It's a real test for young horses who must be able to jump the 13 fences at speed.
Introduced in 1969 as a replacement for the Cotswold Chase, it pays tribute to the three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Arkle.
Many Arkle Chase winners have subsequently won the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
That includes the likes of Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop, Voy Por Ustedes, Sizing Europe, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Put The Kettle On.
ARKLE CHASE TRENDS
The last three Supreme Novices' Hurdle winners to line up in this race the following year have won (Douvan, Altior & Shishkin).
And, just like the Supreme, the Arkle has been farmed by the Henderson and Mullins yards in recent seasons (8 of the last 11 winners between them).
Prior to Sprinter Sacre's win in 2012, there had only been one winning favourite in 19 years dating back to 1992.
However, there have been seven odds-on favourite winners since 2012.
That is, in part, due to fewer entries than before - all but one of those seven odds-on winners were in fields of just 5, 6 or 7.
This has coincided with the introduction of the Jewson (now the Turners Novices' Chase) in 2011, run over an extra four furlongs.
Five-year-old's are 0/16 since 2007 (the 5lb age allowance for five-year-old's was scrapped in 2008).
Voy Por Ustedes (2006) Well Chief (2004), Flagship Uberalles (1999) and Champleve (1998) all previously won the Arkle aged five.
LAST 5 WINNERS’ DATA
RECENT WINNERS
In 2022 Edwardstone became only the third eight-year-old to win the Arkle Chase in the last 30 years, following Sizing Europe and Moscow Flyer:
Shishkin cruised to a 12 lengths victory in 2021, to follow up his much tighter win in the Supreme a year earlier.
The 4/9 favourite was Nicky Henderson's seventh Arkle Chase winner:
Put The Kettle On became the first mare since 1980 to win the Arkle in 2020:
Duc Des Genievres walked away from the field in 2019 to give Willie Mullins a fourth Arkle Chase winner in 5 years:
Foodpad sealed an equally facile victory in 2018 with a big leap at the last:
Altior finished strongly to win the Akle Chase in 2017, the second of his four successive Festival victories:
Douvan also completed the Supreme/Arkle double without ever really coming off the bridle in 2016 - despite chancing the last:
Un De Sceaux, who would go on to win the Ryanair Chase 2 years later, led from the start and barely saw another rival in 2015: