The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is run over a specially designed cross-country course consisting of 32 unique obstacles, including banks, ditches and hedges.
It was added to the Festival roster in 2005 when a fourth day was introduced and is one of three races run over this course at Cheltenham during the season.
In its early years, the race was dominated by trainer Enda Bolger who won 4 of the first 5 renewals, all for owner JP McManus.
He also trained Josies Orders - awarded the race in 2016 after Any Currency, who had finished first, was later disqualified.
Originally a handicap, the contest was changed to a conditions race in 2016.
A unique test of a horse's capabilities, it is no surprise to see repeat winners of this race.
CROSS COUNTRY CHASE TRENDS
In recent years Gordon Elliott has taken over as the trainer to follow, coinciding with the race becoming a level weights contest.
That includes the 1-2 in 2022, while Tiger Roll's remarkable third win in 2021 would have added to Elliott's tally, but for his suspension.
Nonetheless he has trained four Cross Country Chase winners, plus four more to 2nd/3rd, from just 13 entries since 2016.
Unsurprisingly for this specialised discipline, previous course form or Banks course form at Punchestown is key.
Rivage d'Or & Delta Work are the only winners not to not have prior experience of either.
Various Cross Country Chase winners had previously run in the National Hunt Chase.
In fact, Cause of Causes and Tiger Roll had both won that and a different Festival race.
It usually pays to swerve horses trained by Messrs Nicholls and Mullins whose records stand at 0-13 and 0-16 respectively.
LAST 5 WINNERS’ DATA
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Delta Work 2023
Delta Work - Cross Country Chase 2023#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/NXdYUhqncu
— Cheltenham Festival Fans (@cheltfestfans) July 21, 2023
Delta Work, winner of the Pertemps Final in 2018, denied his stablemate Tiger Roll a fairytale farewell in 2022.
There were some boos from the crowd as winning jockey Jack Kennedy passed the line, but both horses were led into the winners' enclosure to an almighty cheer:
Tiger Roll's third Cross Country Chase win was his fifth victory at the Festival in total:
JP McManus had a seventh Cross Country Chase winner with Easyland in 2020:
Tiger Roll romped to back-to-back wins in 2019, winning by 22 lengths:
His victory in 2018 made it three different types of races he had won at the Festival.
It was a first Festival win for jockey Keith Donoghue, while owner Michael O'Leary memorably said about his horse:
In 2017 Cause Of Causes became just the fourth horse to win three different races in succession at the Cheltenham Festival, emulating Flying Bolt, Bobs Worth and Vautour.
Josies Orders 2016
Rivage d'Or 2015
Back in 2014, Richard Johnson rode Balthazar King to his second Cross Country Chase win - in an even closer finish than the first:
Big Shu 2013
Balthazar King had won by a head in 2012 for trainer Philip Hobbs to end Irish dominance of the race, in what remains a course record time (7:51.70):
Garde Champetre was another dual winner of the Cross Country Chase.
In 2009 he led home stablemates L'Ami and Drombeag in a clean sweep for Enda Bolger and JP McManus:
The inaugural Cross Country Chase run at the Cheltenham Festival was won by cross country specialist Spot Thedifference.
Ridden by the late JT McNamara, the 12-year-old came from a long way back to defy top-weight, with trainer Enda Bolger saying:
