Denman Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Looking ahead to the Denman Chase, which takes place over 2m7½f at Newbury, we dive into the history of the race to see which trainers and jockeys have dominated, and identify the statistical trends shaping the outcome of this year's renewal.
Denman Chase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
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 Denman Chase Preview

The race was originally known as the Aon Chase; however, since 2012, the race has been named in honour of 'The Tank' and called the Denman Chase. This Grade 2 is open to runners aged five or older, with the runners facing a total of eighteen fences during the two miles, seven and a half furlongs distance.

The race serves as a trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race the great Denman won in 2008; he also won this race in the same year. Native River won this race in 2018 and then went on to win the Gold Cup, a feat also achieved by Coneygree (2015), the already mentioned Denman (2008) and Kauto Star (2007).

Denman Chase Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Newbury, then head over to the Newbury 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 Other Principal Races at Newbury Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Denman Chase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2017 when the race had an over-round of 107%. The race in 2013 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 116%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Denman Chase, the over-round has been 111%, which means the bookie expects to pay out ÂŁ100 for every ÂŁ111 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Denman 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 Denman Chase Trend Analysis.

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

  1. Zanza (5:34.50) in 2023
  2. Long Run (5:42.53) in 2012
  3. Eldorado Allen (5:50.90) in 2022

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 Denman Chase next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of +0.50. Whilst we wait for the 2027 Denman Chase, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2009 renewal when Madison Du Berlais from David Pipe under the guidance of Tom Scudamore, won in a time of 6:27.69, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Zanza, trained by Philip Hobbs and ridden by Tom O'Brien set the quickest time of 5:34.50 in the 2023 renewal.

What the expert says...
Twelve of the winners between 2007 & 2025 went on to run at the Cheltenham Festival next time out. Ten of those going to the Gold Cup with Kauto Star (2007), Denman (2008), Coneygree (2015) & Native River (2018) all doing the double.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Denman Chase Past Winners

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

Race Notes: Cancelled in 2006 due to frost, run at Kempton in 2009 and run at Ascot in 2019.

YearHorseInfo
2026
6:16.91
Haiti Couleurs (FR)
9yo 11-6 5/6F
Sean Bowen
Rebecca Curtis (GB)
2025
6:05.80
Djelo (FR)
7yo 11-8 6/4F
Charlie Deutsch
Venetia Williams (GB)
2024
6:00.00
Shishkin (IRE)
10yo 11-8 8/11F
Nico de Boinville
Nicky Henderson (GB)
2023
5:34.50
Zanza (IRE)
9yo 11-2 16/1
Tom O'Brien
Philip Hobbs (GB)
2022
5:50.90
Eldorado Allen (FR)
8yo 11-6 6/1
Brendan Powell
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2021
5:57.76
Secret Investor (GB)
9yo 11-0 14/1
Bryony Frost
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2020
5:56.45
Native River (IRE)
10yo 11-6 2/5F
Jonjo O'Neill Jr
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2019
5:59.70
Clan Des Obeaux (FR)
7yo 11-6 2/5F
Harry Cobden
Paul Nicholls (GB)
2018
6:11.70
Native River (IRE)
8yo 11-6 8/11F
Richard Johnson
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2017
6:05.00
Native River (IRE)
7yo 11-6 11/10
Aidan Coleman
Colin Tizzard (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 15 placings from 109 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner

2026 Denman Chase Replay


Denman Chase Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Denman Chase over the last 20 renewals is Paul Nicholls, who has won the race seven times, with those seven winners coming from Kauto Star (2007), Denman (2008), Tricky Trickster (2010), Noland (2011), Silviniaco Conti (2013), Clan Des Obeaux (2019) and Secret Investor (2021). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Denman Chase are Venetia Williams (2 wins) and Nicky Henderson (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Denman 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 Nicholls26-7-15+11.10+8.80
Venetia Williams8-2-4-1.50-0.51
Nicky Henderson8-2-3-4.70-2.74
David Pipe6-1-1+7.00+3.50
Kim Bailey5-1-1-0.50-1.81
Philip Hobbs3-1-2+14.00+9.20
Rebecca Curtis3-1-1-1.17-2.00
Mark Bradstock2-1-1+0.88+0.18
Nigel Twiston-Davies7-0-0-7.00-4.00
David Bridgwater4-0-2-4.00-1.27

Denman Chase Jockey Statistics

Here are some of the top Denman 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
Harry Cobden7-1-5-5.60-1.44
Charlie Deutsch5-1-2-2.50-1.31
Brendan Powell4-1-1+3.00+0.75
Nico de Boinville4-1-1-2.27-1.54
Sean Bowen2-1-1-0.17-1.00
Bryony Frost1-1-1+14.00+8.75
Jonjo O'Neill Jr1-1-1+0.40+0.25
Sam Twiston-Davies7-0-0-7.00-4.00
Harry Skelton4-0-1-4.00-2.40
David Bass3-0-0-3.00-3.00

Denman Chase Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +34.34, is when runners had a best in three result of 1st.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 career wins on the going, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-21.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Denman Chase is Kempton; there have been a total of 6 winners of this race who ran at Kempton last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Cheltenham; there have been a total of 3 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Denman Chase; that stallion, Indian River, has produced 4 winners (2020,2018,2017,2009).

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the Denman Chase; that stallion is Black Sam Bellamy, who has failed to produce a winner from 6 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Zanza in 2023, winning for Philip Hobbs at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of Tom O'Brien. 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 Denman Chase

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

InfoLast Race
2026 - Haiti Couleurs
Chepstow - 1st of 17 (5/1)
Welsh Grand National
2025 - Djelo
Windsor - 2nd of 6 (5/4)
Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase
2024 - Shishkin
Kempton - UR of 6 (10/3)
King George VI Chase
2023 - Zanza
Wetherby - 7th of 11 (14/1)
Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase
2022 - Eldorado Allen
Kempton - 2nd of 4 (2/1)
Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase
2021 - Secret Investor
Newbury - 11th of 18 (15/2)
Coral Gold Cup
2020 - Native River
Aintree - 1st of 4 (5/6)
Virgin Bet Price Boosts Many Clouds Chase
2019 - Clan Des Obeaux
Kempton - 1st of 10 (12/1)
King George VI Chase
2018 - Native River
Cheltenham - 3rd of 13 (7/2)
Cheltenham Gold Cup
2017 - Native River
Chepstow - 1st of 20 (11/4)
Welsh Grand National

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 Denman 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.

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