The Centenary Novices' Handicap Chase, known for sponsorship purposes as the Paddy's Reward Club Novices' Handicap Chase, is a Listed

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

in Great Britain which is open to

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...

aged five years or older. It is run at

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racin ...

over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (2 miles 4 furlongs and 10 yards, or 4,033 metres), and during its running there are sixteen fences to be jumped. It was a handicap race for

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

chasers with a handicap rating between 0 and 145, and it takes place each year in March. The event was originally run at

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Racing at Cheltenham took place in 1815, but comprised only minor flat races on Nottingham Hill. The first racing on Cleeve ...

and was established when a fourth day was added to the Cheltenham Festival in 2005. The winning ride by Mattie Batchelor in the inaugural edition subsequently won the

Lester Award A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races from 1954 ...

for Jump Ride of the Year. The race was sponsored by

Jewson Jewson is one of the largest chains of British general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors. The chain comprises around 500 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's Stark Group, STAR ...

from 2005 to 2010 and run as the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase on the third day of the Festival. Jewson transferred their sponsorship to a new race at the 2011 Festival, the Jewson Novices' Chase, which remained on the third day while the Novices' Handicap Chase was moved to become the final race on the opening day of the Festival. The race title commemorated the centenary of the Cheltenham Festival in 2011. In 2012 the race was sponsored by Pulteney Land Investments and from 2013 to 2014 by Rewards4Racing. In 2015 it was sponsored by Chaps Restaurants Barbados and from 2016 to 2019 the race was sponsored by

Close Brothers Group Close Brothers Group plc is a UK merchant banking group which provides lending, takes deposits, manages wealth and trades in securities. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Close Brothe ...

. The race's sponsors in 2020 were

Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation is an American financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that caters to corporations, institutional investors, and ultra high net worth individuals. Northern Trust is one of the List of largest ban ...

and since 2021 it has been sponsored by

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Dublin, alongside a satellite office ...

. The Centenary Novices' Chase was removed from the Festival programme in 2021 to make way for a new steeplechase for

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

s, the Liberthine Mares' Chase and was transferred to the meeting which takes place at Sandown Park a few days before the Cheltenham Festival. The race held Listed status until 2022 and was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2023 running when Listed status was removed from handicap races.

Records

Leading

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

(3 wins): * Brendan Powell Jnr - ''Present View (2014), Killer Kane (2022), Scarface (2024)'' Leading trainer (2 wins): * Ferdy Murphy - ''L'Antartique (2007), Divers (2011)''

Winners

* ''Weights given in

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s and

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...

s.''

References

racenewsonline.co.uk
– ''Racenews Archive (February 21, 2008).'' ---- *

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

: ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , ---- {{Cheltenham Festival National Hunt races in Great Britain Cheltenham Racecourse National Hunt chases Horse races established in 2005 2005 establishments in England Sandown Park Racecourse

Records

Winners

See also

References