Irish Arkle Novice Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Dublin Racing Festival)

We look at the Irish Arkle Novice Chase ahead of the next renewal, a race contested over 2m1f at Leopardstown during the Dublin Racing Festival, to see which runners, trainers and jockeys have previously won the race and which trends you can use to find the winner of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase.
Irish Arkle Novice Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Dublin Racing Festival)
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2027 Irish Arkle Novice Chase Preview

Having first been run back in 1956, the Arkle Novice Chase has been run every year since, except for 1970. The race is a chase run over two miles and one furlong at the Leopardstown racecourse during the Dublin Racing Festival, which is held in early February.

The race is open to novice chases where they have to contend with eleven fences throughout the race. The race is known as the 'Irish Arkle' and some runners, for example, Footpad in 2018, went on to win the British equivalent, the Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham festival.

Irish Arkle Novice Chase Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Leopardstown, then head over to the Leopardstown tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Races Covered during the Dublin Racing Festival section for links to these.

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2026
ALSO READ

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2026

How competitive is the Irish Arkle Novice Chase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2016 when the race had an over-round of 106%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 117%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase, the over-round has been 112%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £112 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Irish Arkle Novice Chase Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Irish Arkle Novice Chase Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Irish Arkle Novice Chase races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Le Richebourg (4:00.90) in 2019
  2. Some Plan (4:05.50) in 2017
  3. El Fabiolo (4:08.00) in 2023

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase next time out, then you would have backed a total of 7 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of +12.16. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page to access the OLBG racing picks easily daily.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 4:00.90 was set by Le Richebourg in 2019, trained by Joseph Patrick O'Brien and ridden by Mark Walsh, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2009 when Golden Silver won in a time of 4:36.10 for trainer W P Mullins, who booked Paul Townend in the saddle.

What the expert says...
As you would expect, plenty of these go on to run in the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival. Between 2014 & 2025, all but two of the winners went on to run in that race next time out. Un De Sceaux (2015), Douvan (2016), Footpad (2018) and El Fabiolo (2023) all went on to do the double.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Irish Arkle Novice Chase Past Winners

Here are the Irish Arkle Novice Chase past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won, along with the age & weight of the horse. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Irish Arkle Novice Chase are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2026
4:22.40
Romeo Coolio (GB)
7yo 11-12 4/9F
Jack Kennedy
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2025
4:11.50
Majborough (FR)
5yo 11-10 8/11F
Mark Walsh
W P Mullins (IRE)
2024
4:20.30
Il Etait Temps (FR)
6yo 11-12 6/1
Danny Mullins
W P Mullins (IRE)
2023
4:08.00
El Fabiolo (FR)
6yo 11-12 9/2
Daryl Jacob
W P Mullins (IRE)
2022
4:18.20
Blue Lord (FR)
7yo 11-12 5/2
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2021
4:23.50
Energumene (FR)
7yo 11-12 5/6F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2020
4:15.00
Notebook (GER)
7yo 11-10 5/4F
Rachael Blackmore
Henry De Bromhead (IRE)
2019
4:00.90
Le Richebourg (FR)
6yo 11-10 11/10F
Mark Walsh
Joseph Patrick O'Brien (IRE)
2018
4:13.90
Footpad (FR)
6yo 11-10 4/9F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2017
4:05.50
Some Plan (IRE)
9yo 11-12 100/30
Davy Russell
Henry De Bromhead (IRE)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase have been based:

  • IRE: 20 winners with an additional 16 placings from 108 runners
  • GB: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners

2026 Irish Arkle Novice Chase Replay


Irish Arkle Novice Chase Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase over the last 20 renewals is W P Mullins, who has won the race nine times, with those nine winners coming from Golden Silver (2009), Un De Sceaux (2015), Douvan (2016), Footpad (2018), Energumene (2021), Blue Lord (2022), El Fabiolo (2023), Il Etait Temps (2024) and Majborough (2025). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase is Henry De Bromhead (3 wins).

Here are some of the top Irish Arkle Novice Chase trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
W P Mullins39-9-15-5.20-7.13
Henry De Bromhead8-3-4+6.58+4.03
Gordon Elliott11-1-4-9.56-4.50
Joseph Patrick O'Brien6-1-3-3.90-1.13
A J Martin3-1-2+8.00+0.50
C Byrnes2-1-1+6.00+3.38
Noel Meade2-1-1+1.50+0.56
W J Burke2-1-1+0.63+0.02
Paul Nolan3-0-2-3.00-0.63
Mrs John Harrington2-0-0-2.00-1.00

Irish Arkle Novice Chase Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase over the last 20 renewals is Paul Townend, who has won the race four times, with those four winners coming from Golden Silver (2009), Footpad (2018), Energumene (2021) and Blue Lord (2022). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase is Mark Walsh (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Irish Arkle Novice Chase jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Paul Townend13-4-5+3.77-4.02
Mark Walsh5-2-2-1.17-1.85
Jack Kennedy6-1-3-4.56-2.50
Danny Mullins4-1-3+3.00+6.17
Rachael Blackmore3-1-1-0.75-1.22
J J Slevin3-0-2-3.00+0.18
Darragh O'Keeffe2-0-0-2.00-1.00
Donagh Meyler2-0-0-2.00-2.00
Brian Hayes2-0-0-2.00-2.00
Danny Gilligan1-0-1-1.00+1.00

Irish Arkle Novice Chase Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +16.00, is when runners were aged 7.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners were aged 8, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-26.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase is Leopardstown; there have been a total of 9 winners of this race who ran at Leopardstown last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Naas; there have been a total of 5 winners of this race who ran at Naas last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 108 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 4 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Irish Arkle Novice Chase:

  • Beneficial (2 Wins)
  • Denham Red (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Benefficient in 2013, winning for A J Martin at odds of 10/1 under the guidance of B J Cooper. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 11 winning favourites in the race. Remember to bookmark the best racing tipsters page so you can get easy access to the best OLBG racing tipsters.

Route to the Irish Arkle Novice Chase

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Irish Arkle Novice Chase. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2026 - Romeo Coolio
Leopardstown - 1st of 9 (8/15)
Racing Post Novice Chase
2025 - Majborough
Fairyhouse - 1st of 10 (1/1)
Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase
2024 - Il Etait Temps
Limerick - 2nd of 5 (3/1)
Faugheen Novice Chase
2023 - El Fabiolo
Fairyhouse - 1st of 5 (1/5)
Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase
2022 - Blue Lord
Naas - 1st of 3 (1/4)
Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Chase
2021 - Energumene
Naas - 1st of 4 (10/11)
Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Chase
2020 - Notebook
Leopardstown - 1st of 5 (7/1)
Racing Post Novice Chase
2019 - Le Richebourg
Leopardstown - 1st of 6 (3/1)
Racing Post Novice Chase
2018 - Footpad
Leopardstown - 1st of 5 (4/6)
Racing Post Novice Chase
2017 - Some Plan
Naas - 1st of 4 (7/1)
Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Novice Chase

Races Covered during the Dublin Racing Festival

Remember to head over to the Leopardstown predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters are supporting in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase, and don't forget we also cover the following races at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Races - Day 1 (Saturday)Last WinnerInfo
Golden Cygnet Novice HurdleDoctor Steinberg (IRE)
6yo - 7/4
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
Irish Arkle Novice ChaseRomeo Coolio (GB)
7yo - 4/9
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
Irish Gold CupFact To File (FR)
9yo - 9/2
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
Spring Juvenile HurdleNarciso Has (FR)
4yo - 1/1
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
Races - Day 2 (Sunday)Last WinnerInfo
Dublin ChaseMajborough (FR)
6yo - 2/1
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
Dublin Racing Festival Handicap ChaseBackmersackme (IRE)
7yo - 14/1
Emmet Mullins
Sean Bowen
Dublin Racing Festival Handicap HurdleBowensonfire (FR)
6yo - 10/1
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
Irish Champion HurdleBrighterdaysahead (FR)
7yo - 11/4
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
Ladbrokes Novice ChaseKaid dAuthie (FR)
6yo - 5/1
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
Tattersalls Ireland Novice HurdleTalk The Talk (FR)
5yo - 3/1
Joseph Patrick O'Brien
J J Slevin

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Irish Arkle Novice Chase Preview are Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Expert Guide

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for jump racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful national hunt racing blogs for OLBG.

Other Principal Races at the Leopardstown Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Leopardstown racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in September (Irish Champions Festival)

Races in December (Christmas Festival)

No Comments

There are no comments here. Be the first to comment...

Please login or register to reply to this news article
KEEP READING
Ladbrokes Trophy Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Ladbrokes Trophy Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

The Ladbrokes Trophy is always an anticipated contest at Kempton, run over a trip of 3m. In this guide, we take a closer look at the winning connections, past records, and the key trends that could help you pinpoint this year's Ladbrokes Trophy winner.
Continue Reading
Cheltenham Novice Hurdlers Breeding & Pedigree Guide

Cheltenham Novice Hurdlers Breeding & Pedigree Guide

Explore the breeding and pedigree behind Cheltenham's novice hurdlers, uncovering the genetic secrets that drive success in these prestigious races, and analysing the impact of sire lines on performance.
Continue Reading
Lookout Cheltenham, the Irish are Coming!!

Lookout Cheltenham, the Irish are Coming!!

You cannot deny the Irish have been getting the upper hand at the Cheltenham Festival, we look back to see what their numbers are and where they have been excelling.
Continue Reading