The third and final day of the Cheltenham November meeting is packed full of quality races. Arguably the classiest contest of the entire meeting is this race, the two mile Shloer Chase.
A relative newcomer to the jump racing scene, this was first run in 2009. Officially known as the Cheltenham Chase, Shloer have been the sponsors since 2011.
As the meeting’s third most valuable race, high calibre entrants are often involved. The 2019 winner Defi Du Seuil won multiple Grade 1 races before and after his Shloer Chase victory. The 2015 winner was dual Queen Mother Champion Chaser, Sprinter Sacre.
Next Race: TBD
The next renewal of this race has not been scheduled yet. We will update this once the schedule has been released for next season. The race info, trends and tips shown below will be updated for the next renewal once the final declarations have been made.
Last Run: 15th November 2020
- Winner: Put The Kettle On
- SP: 7/4
- Trainer: Henry De Bromhead
- Jockey: Aidan Coleman
Race Info
This Grade 2 event for the 2m chasers is the classiest contest on the final day of the November Meeting, and offers £60,000 in total prize money in 2020. The ground at the track is currently described as good to soft, although the forecast does suggest there may be rain on the way. We had some very nice weather on Friday but with a deluge forecast on Saturday and potentially showers today things could certainly get quite sticky.
| Going | Distance | Grade | Prize Money | Runners | EW Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good to Soft | 2mf | Grade 2 | £60,000 | 6 Runners | 1/4 1-2 |
Shloer Chase Betting Tips
Note: The following tips are from 2020. Tips for the next renewal will be added once the final declarations have been made.
This contest, technically the Cheltenham Chase, only made its debut in 2009, but Alan King, Colin Tizzard, Nicky Henderson and Philip Hobbs have all already recorded two wins in the race. Of that quartet, only Hobbs holds an entry this year in the shape of the current market leader and defending champion, Defi Du Seuil, so there is certainly a decent chance the Somerset-based handler could forge ahead.
Well Chief won the first ever edition of this at the age of 10, but there has been a trend towards the younger performers of late, with six of the past seven renewals falling to a runner aged seven or younger – a stat which speaks against the nine year old Forest Bihan this year. We have seen a nine year old win this, but that was the mighty Sprinter Sacre in 2015 and we are not at all sure Forest Bihan could ever be classed alongside that French-bred great.
This event has been one of the more solid races at the meeting for the market leader. The jolly has come home in front in six of the past 10 editions, handing favourite backers a profit of £3.90 to £1 level stakes.
| Horse | Odds | Rating | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defi Du Seuil | 2/1 | 169 | Philip Hobbs | Richard Johnson |
| Rouge Vif | 5/2 | 164 | Harry Whittington | Gavin Sheehan |
Defi Du Seuil – 2/1
He does seem to have been around for a while now, but Defi Du Seuil is still actually only seven years of age and so rates a good fit on the recent trends for this race. 5lbs clear of his nearest rival, he took this in good style last year and is the one to beat on the book, even after all of the various winner’s penalties, and fillies’ and mares’ allowances are considered.
A further feather in the cap of the mount of Richard Johnson is his record at this track, with the JP McManus-owned runner boasting overall Cheltenham form figures of 111152114. As a four-time winner at Grade 1 level, with the likes of Une De Sceax, Politologue and Lostintranslation counted amongst his victims, there can also be no doubting he has the required class for this.
Nor will the ground be a concern, with the Philip Hobbs stable star having scored on going ranging from good to heavy. What is a question mark though is just what sort of form he will be in on his return from a 249-day break, particularly as he ended last season with a bitterly disappointing display in the Champion Chase here.
Sent off at just 2/5 that day, he could trail home only fourth of five, fully 13½l adrift of Politologue. A repeat of that effort certainly won’t be good enough, but if running close to the level of any of his other three starts from last season, he will prove tough to deny and is a worthy favourite.
Rouge Vif – 5/2
Whilst Defi Du Seuil is the one to beat on the pick of his form, he will likely need to be close to his best to land this, as there are a host of talented contenders lying in wait amongst the opposition. In Duc De Genievres and Put The Kettle On we have the two previous winners of the Arkle, whilst the Nigel Twiston-Davies runner, Ridersonthestorm is unbeaten in his three completed starts over fences since joining the yard at around this time last year.
It’s hard to dismiss the claims of any of the above, but the one who we fancy may prove to be the biggest threat of all is the Harry Whittington runner, Rouge Vif. This horse has long been spoken of in glowing terms by his astute handler, and has largely backed up that opinion at the track having scored twice in graded company, including when romping to victory in the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices Hurdle at Warwick last season.
He ultimately disappointed slightly when third behind Put The Kettle in the Arkle here, but proved that he handles the track perfectly well on his comeback effort this season. To win a Class 2 handicap by an almost effortless 7½l from a mark of 156 was a seriously impressive display and suggests that he may well be in for a very productive season.
It was certainly a run which hinted he had made significant progress over the summer, and it will be intriguing to see how he gets on back in against the big guns here. The one caveat with this one would be the ground. The current good to soft should be fine, but should it come up soft on the day that may be a concern, with his very best efforts having come on a quicker surface. With that, and even softer, certainly possible and perhaps probable, it may well pay to side with the favourite.
Shloer Chase Winners
| Year | Winner | SP | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Put The Kettle On | 7/4 | Henry De Bromhead | Aidan Coleman |
| 2019 | Defi Du Seuil | 11/8 | Philip Hobbs | Barry Geraghty |
| 2018 | Sceau Royal | 5/4 | Alan King | Daryl Jacob |
| 2017 | Fox Norton | 4/5 | Colin Tizzard | Bryan Cooper |
| 2016 | Fox Norton | 5/2 | Colin Tizzard | Aidan Coleman |
| 2015 | Sprinter Sacre | 15/8 | Nicky Henderson | Nico de Boinville |
| 2014 | Uxizandre | 15/8 | Alan King | Barry Geraghty |
| 2013 | Kid Cassidy | 4/1 | Nicky Henderson | A P McCoy |
| 2012 | Wishfull Thinking | 8/11 | Philip Hobbs | Richard Johnson |
| 2011 | Gauvain | 2/1 | Nick Williams | Noel Fehily |
About the Shloer Chase
The Cheltenham Chase, known since 2011 as the Shloer Chase for sponsorship reasons, is a well regarded chase that takes place fairly early in the jumps season. It was initially introduced as a conditions race before being promoted to Listed status and then to a Grade 2 since when it has been won by some incredibly high class horses.
Proven Jumping Quality a Must
The Shloer Chase has very quickly become an important contest for minimum distance chasers. It doesn’t always attract the biggest field to Cheltenham’s November Meeting but those who do line up for it are always of a certain class. Many big name trainers use this Grade 2 contest as a chance to test horses out at Cheltenham ahead of a possible tilt at either the Queen Mother Champion Chase or the Ryanair Chase, so it is certainly well worth your attention.
The nature of those races that usually follow the Shloer Chase tells you a lot about what it takes to win this 2 mile contest. It is vital to have plenty of pace as it’s a race that tends to be run at quite a lick so horses without an extra turn of speed will find they are left for dead as the leaders make a burst for home late on.
This is also a race that puts the jumping of every competitor under the microscope. There are 13 fences in total for the horses to navigate, each of which must be taken at speed. In staying chases, horses are almost able to take it easy going over the fences but there’s none of that in the Shloer Chase. Every mistake has the potential to either bring a horse down or at least end their chances of winning so punters should pretty much discount horses who are yet to display class over fences.
The Winner is Often One to Watch…But Maybe Not Next Time Out
One of the quirks of the Shloer Chase is the poor record that winners have in their next race. Even with such a high calibre field competing every year, only one of the first 10 winners of the Shloer Chase won their next contest. That horse was the phenomenal Sprinter Sacre, one of the highest rated horses in the history of jumps racing, so it is easy to see why he might be the exception to the rule.
Perhaps the reason that Sprinter Sacre was able to win his next race (and then the Champion Chase in the same season) was because he was already a highly experienced chaser by the time he competed in the Shloer Chase. The Nicky Henderson trained gelding was nine when he won this race, older than all but one winner. Plenty of well regarded younger horses have got the job done and have subsequently gone on to even bigger things but for some reason found the Shloer Chase left too much of a mark for them to win next up. Defi Du Seuil has already bucked that trend to a degree but that really is a sign of his class and the French horse really could be something special.
Despite that quirk, winners of the Shloer Chase have always been of considerable quality, especially since the promotion to Grade 2 level. That’s certainly not been missed by the bookies as upsets are very rare. Indeed, of the first 11 editions of the Shloer Chase, only one was won by a horse outside of the top two in the betting.
Moreover, they have typically gone on to record some very decent wins, especially since the race was upgraded, as the table below shows:
Schloer Chase Winner’s Key Future Victories: 2009 – 2019
| Horse and Year of Shloer Chase Win | Subsequent Big Wins |
|---|---|
| Well Chief (2009) | Biggest wins came prior to this |
| Gauvain (2010 & 2011) | Peterborough Chase |
| Wishful Thinking (2012) | Super Saturday Chase, Old Roan Chase, Peterborough Chase |
| Kid Cassidy (2013) | Biggest wins came prior to this |
| Uxizandre (2014) | Ryanair Chase |
| Sprinter Sacre (2015) | Desert Orchid Chase, Champion Chase, Celebration Chase |
| Fox Norton (2016 & 2017) | Melling Chase, Irish Champion Chase, |
| Sceau Royal (2018) | Big wins came before, beaten into 2nd 4 times by Altior since |
| Defi Du Seuil (2019) | Tingle Creek, Clarence House |