Becher Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the Becher Chase at Aintree, a thrilling steeplechase over Grand National fences. Uncover key trends, past winners, and insights that reveal what it takes to triumph in this prestigious handicap race, providing essential knowledge for racing enthusiasts.
Becher Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2025 Becher Chase Preview

The Becher Chase is run at Aintree in December of each year and is a Handicap Chase open to six-year-olds or older. The race is run over the Grand National fences over a distance just shy of three miles and two furlongs. No runner has won the Grand National directly after winning the Becher Chase, however, Amberleigh House won the Becher Chase in 2001 and went on to Grand National success in 2004.

Additionally, Silver Birch won the Becher chase in 2004 and three years later in 2007 won the Grand National so experience with these fences certainly helps for the future. Into the Red (1994 & 1996) and Hello Bud (2010 & 2012) have dual wins, Walk In The Mill who won the race in 2018 became the first runner to win this race back-to-back when also landing the race in 2019.

Becher Chase Information:

We also have a dedicated Aintree tips page that will cover this race as well as all of the other races on the day of the race, see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are predicting to win this race and the others on the cards. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Aintree Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Becher Chase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2009 when the race had an over-round of 116%. The race in 2022 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 140%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Becher Chase, the over-round has been 127%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £127 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2025 Becher 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 Becher Chase Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Becher Chase over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Eurotrek (6:46.60) in 2006
  2. Ashtown Lad (6:50.97) in 2022
  3. Vieux Lion Rouge (6:51.10) in 2016

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Becher Chase next time out then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -3.67. Ahead of the 2024 Becher Chase why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2004 renewal when Silver Birch from Paul Nicholls under the guidance of R Walsh, won in a time of 7:35.50, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Eurotrek, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Liam Heard set the quickest time of 6:46.60 in the 2006 renewal.

What the expert says...
In the first race of the jump season over the National fences, a number of the winners have been targeted at the National with some running in the trial at Haydock and some going Scottish National or straight to the Grand National.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Becher Chase Past Winners

Here are the Becher 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 Becher Chase are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

Race Notes: The 2024 renewal was abandoned due to severe weather.

YearHorseInfo
2023
7:35.15
Chambard (FR)
11yo 10-1 18/1
Miss Lucy Turner (5lbs)
Venetia Williams (GB)
2022
6:50.97
Ashtown Lad (IRE)
8yo 11-5 5/1
Harry Skelton
Dan Skelton (GB)
2021
7:19.03
Snow Leopardess (GB)
9yo 10-4 4/1F
Aidan Coleman
Charlie Longsdon (GB)
2020
7:17.12
Vieux Lion Rouge (FR)
11yo 10-7 12/1
Conor O'Farrell
David Pipe (GB)
2019
7:03.10
Walk In The Mill (FR)
9yo 10-8 8/1
James Best
Robert Walford (GB)
2018
6:52.40
Walk In The Mill (FR)
8yo 10-3 10/1
James Best
Robert Walford (GB)
2017
7:18.90
Blaklion (GB)
8yo 11-6 7/4F
Gavin Sheehan
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)
2016
6:51.10
Vieux Lion Rouge (FR)
7yo 10-9 8/1F
Tom Scudamore
David Pipe (GB)
2015
7:09.20
Highland Lodge (IRE)
9yo 10-0 20/1
Henry Brooke
James Moffatt (GB)
2014
6:54.40
Oscar Time (IRE)
13yo 10-12 25/1
Mr Sam Waley-Cohen (3lbs)
Robert Waley-Cohen (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Becher Chase have been based:

  • GB: 17 winners with an additional 46 placings from 277 runners
  • IRE: 3 winners with an additional 7 placings from 63 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 7 runners

Becher Chase Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the Becher Chase over the last 20 renewals with both Paul Nicholls and Nigel Twiston-Davies who have both won the race three times. Paul Nicholls winners have been with Silver Birch (2004), Eurotrek (2006) and Mr Pointment (2007). Nigel Twiston-Davies winners have been with Hello Bud (2010 & 2012) and Blaklion (2017). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Becher Chase are David Pipe (2 wins) and Robert Walford (2 wins). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Becher Chase, Peter Bowen has sent a total of 20 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst Donald McCain has sent out 10 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Becher 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
Paul Nicholls24-3-8+15.50+12.02
Nigel Twiston-Davies21-3-5+5.25+0.53
David Pipe22-2-5+0.00-0.99
Robert Walford3-2-2+17.00+10.25
Venetia Williams9-1-2+10.00+4.75
James Moffatt6-1-3+15.00+12.50
Alan King5-1-1+6.00+2.25
Philip Hobbs4-1-1+11.00+5.75
Charlie Longsdon4-1-1+1.00-0.50
Edward P Mitchell2-1-1+32.00+19.63

Becher Chase Jockey Statistics

There are two leading jockeys in the Becher Chase over the last 20 renewals with both Sam Twiston-Davies and James Best who have both won the race two times. Sam Twiston-Davies winners have been with Hello Bud (2010 & 2012). James Best winners have been with Walk In The Mill (2018 & 2019). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Becher Chase, Brian Hughes has ridden 10 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Becher 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
Sam Twiston-Davies8-2-3+15.50+9.44
James Best4-2-2+16.00+9.25
Henry Brooke7-1-5+14.00+14.00
Conor O'Farrell7-1-2+6.00+4.50
Harry Skelton4-1-2+2.00+1.76
Gavin Sheehan4-1-3-1.25+1.59
Liam Heard3-1-1+23.00+13.63
Miss Lucy Turner2-1-1+17.00+10.25
Brian Hughes10-0-3-10.00-3.12
Richie McLernon8-0-2-8.00-3.87

Becher Chase Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +64.50 is when runners ran on Soft ground when last winning.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners last win was 3 starts ago, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-58.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Becher Chase is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 7 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Aintree, there has been a total number of 3 winners of this race who ran at Aintree last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 19 winners from a total of 345 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 2 runners.

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

  • Old Vic (3 Wins)
  • Flemensfirth (2 Wins)
  • Jurado (2 Wins)
  • Sabiango (2 Wins)
  • Walk In The Park (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Becher Chase despite multiple attempts:

  • Presenting (0 Wins from 17 runners)
  • Anshan (0 Wins from 9 runners)
  • Kings Theatre (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Montelimar (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Network (0 Wins from 7 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Garvivonnian in 2005, winning for Edward P Mitchell at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of G Cotter. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2025 Becher Chase why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Becher Chase Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Tipster Competition Manager

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

Content Editor

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.

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