Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase, a thrilling 2m4ยฝf Premier Handicap race. Uncover key trends, past winners, top trainers, and jockeys in this exciting National Hunt event for horses aged five and older.
Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap 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.

2026 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Preview

The New Year's Day Handicap Chase is, as the name would suggest, run on New Year's Day at the Cheltenham racecourse, this Premier Handicap is open to runners who are aged five or older it is contested over a distance of two miles, four and a half furlongs during which a total of seven fences are to be jumped.

Given the time of year, the ground is usually pretty demanding, it's been run on either Heavy or Soft ground more than any other so consider that when making your bets.

Uncover Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase winning strategies through our deep dive into past race patterns and trainer performance, and supercharge your bets with these top free bets for Cheltenham.

Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Cheltenham tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Cheltenham Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2024 when the race had an over-round of 109%. The race in 2023 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 131%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase, the over-round has been 119%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £119 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2026 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap 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 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Aso (5:10.60) in 2019
  2. Fondmort (5:13.90) in 2006
  3. Calgary Bay (5:16.50) in 2012

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 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +3.00. Whilst we wait for the 2026 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 5:10.60 was set by Aso in 2019, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Venetia Williams and ridden by Charlie Deutsch. The slowest winning time was set in 2014 when Double Ross won in a time of 5:47.37, booked to ride was Sam Twiston-Davies by the trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.

What the expert says...
The 2024 winner, Shakem UpArry, went on to run at Festival (Festival Plate) next time out, he was the third winner from the past four renewals to go to that race next time out, a race he went on to win.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Past Winners

Here are the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap 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 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2025
5:31.64
Springwell Bay (GB)
8yo 11-3 11/4F
Jonjo O'Neill Jr
Jonjo & A J O'Neill (GB)
2024
5:25.53
Shakem UpArry (IRE)
10yo 10-2 11/2
Ben Jones
Ben Pauling (GB)
2023
5:22.79
Midnight River (GB)
8yo 11-4 6/1
Harry Skelton
Dan Skelton (GB)
2022
5:23.57
Vienna Court (IRE)
7yo 10-6 10/1
Sam Twiston-Davies
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)
2020
5:29.61
Oldgrangewood (GB)
9yo 10-7 12/1
Harry Skelton
Dan Skelton (GB)
2019
5:10.60
Aso (FR)
9yo 11-12 3/1F
Charlie Deutsch
Venetia Williams (GB)
2018
5:36.30
Ballyhill (FR)
7yo 10-2 9/1
Jamie Bargary (3lbs)
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)
2017
5:31.00
Shantou Flyer (IRE)
7yo 11-2 20/1
Aidan Coleman
Rebecca Curtis (GB)
2016
5:31.50
Village Vic (IRE)
9yo 10-10 7/2F
Richard Johnson
Philip Hobbs (GB)
2015
5:21.40
Splash Of Ginge (GB)
7yo 10-9 9/2F
Jamie Bargary (7lbs)
Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 37 placings from 222 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 3 runners

Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals is Nigel Twiston-Davies who has won the race five times with those five winners coming from Whereareyounow (2004), Double Ross (2014), Splash Of Ginge (2015), Ballyhill (2018) and Vienna Court (2022). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase are Venetia Williams (2 wins) and Dan Skelton (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap 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
Nigel Twiston-Davies20-5-7+15.38+8.75
Venetia Williams16-2-4+3.00-1.01
Dan Skelton5-2-3+15.00+9.38
Paul Nicholls28-1-8-17.00-6.81
Nicky Henderson15-1-3-10.67-8.73
Philip Hobbs11-1-4-6.50-4.31
Jonjo O'Neill8-1-2+1.00+1.63
David Pipe6-1-2+2.00+2.38
Tom George3-1-1+5.00+2.38
Henrietta Knight2-1-2+7.00+6.50

Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase over the last 20 renewals with Sam Twiston-Davies, Harry Skelton and Jamie Bargary having all won the race two times. Sam Twiston-Davies winners have been with Double Ross (2014) and Vienna Court (2022). Harry Skelton winners have been with Oldgrangewood (2020) and Midnight River (2023). Jamie Bargary's winners have been with Splash Of Ginge (2015) and Ballyhill (2018).

Here are some of the top Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap 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-Davies13-2-6+0.38+3.75
Harry Skelton5-2-3+15.00+9.38
Jamie Bargary4-2-2+11.50+6.21
Charlie Deutsch6-1-2-2.00-1.81
Ben Jones1-1-1+5.50+3.44
Jonjo O'Neill Jr1-1-1+2.75+1.65
Harry Cobden4-0-2-4.00-0.94
Nick Scholfield4-0-0-4.00-4.00
Sean Bowen4-0-0-4.00-4.00
Gavin Sheehan3-0-1-3.00-1.50

Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +25.88 is when runners ran over 2m on debut.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 3 career starts in the class, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-27.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 9 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Newbury, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Newbury 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 221 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 8 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase, that stallion is Presenting who has failed to produce a winner from 5 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Shantou Flyer in 2017, winning for Rebecca Curtis at odds of 20/1 under the guidance of Aidan Coleman. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 6 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2026 Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Cheltenham New Year's Day Handicap Chase Preview are at hand, Andy and James. 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.

James Banting

James Banting

Tipster Competition Assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
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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