Devon National Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

If you are a fan of horse racing trends, then this preview of the Devon National will be perfect for you! Not only do we look at the trends, but we look at past winners as well as trainer and jockey records for the Devon National, a race run over 3m6½f at Exeter.
Devon National 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 Devon National Preview

Scheduled to take place in February of each year at the Exeter racecourse is the class three Devon National, a race that is open to runners who are aged five or older and are rated no higher than 135. The race is run over a distance of three miles, six and a half furlongs, during which the runners will face a total of twenty-one fences.

Devon National Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Exeter, then head over to the Exeter 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.

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How competitive is the Devon National market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2006, when the race had an over-round of 111%. The race in 2019 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 Devon National, the over-round has been 121%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £121 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Devon National 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 Devon National Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Devon National races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Gwencily Berbas (7:40.03) in 2023
  2. Ammunition (7:49.70) in 2011
  3. Kingswell Theatre (7:51.40) in 2017

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 Devon National next time out, then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -14.00. 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 7:40.03 was set by Gwencily Berbas in 2023, trained by David Pipe and ridden by Philip Armson, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2025 when Art Decco won in a time of 8:56.07 for trainer Robert Walford, who booked Harry Kimber in the saddle.

What the expert says...
Don't be put off by those out of form, the last winner of Devon National who came into the race on the back of a win was Catching On in 2015, and that is the only runner in the last twenty renewals who did win last time out.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Devon National Past Winners

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

YearHorseInfo
2026
8:31.03
Art Decco (GB)
10yo 11-12 11/2
Harry Kimber
Robert Walford (GB)
2025
8:56.07
Art Decco (GB)
9yo 11-13 9/2
Harry Kimber
Robert Walford (GB)
2024
8:43.20
Mr Vango (IRE)
8yo 11-7 11/4F
Ben Jones
Mark Bradstock (GB)
2023
7:40.03
Gwencily Berbas (FR)
12yo 10-11 13/2
Philip Armson (3lbs)
David Pipe (GB)
2022
8:09.38
Captain Drake (IRE)
9yo 11-2 20/1
Bryan Carver (3lbs)
Harry Fry (GB)
2021
8:27.00
Samuel Jackson (GB)
9yo 11-0 4/1F
Micheal Nolan
Richard Mitford-Slade (GB)
2020
8:26.30
Christmas In April (FR)
8yo 11-6 8/1
Harry Cobden
Colin Tizzard (GB)
2019
7:52.60
Dawson City (GB)
10yo 11-10 6/1
Tom Bellamy
Polly Gundry (GB)
2018
8:32.20
Dawson City (GB)
9yo 11-6 8/1
Andrew Thornton
Polly Gundry (GB)
2017
7:51.40
Kingswell Theatre (GB)
8yo 11-6 20/1
Ben Poste (3lbs)
Michael Scudamore (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Devon National have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 38 placings from 231 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners

Devon National Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Devon National over the last 20 renewals is Jonjo O'Neill, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Teeming Rain (2009 & 2010) and Catching On (2015). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Devon National are Polly Gundry (2 wins) and Robert Walford (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Devon National 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
Jonjo O'Neill10-3-4+27.50+15.51
Polly Gundry5-2-4+11.00+8.93
Robert Walford4-2-3+8.00+5.00
David Pipe12-1-1-4.50-7.10
Nigel Twiston-Davies9-1-5+8.00+8.30
Jeremy Scott6-1-1+2.00-0.62
Henry Daly5-1-1+3.00+0.20
Sue Gardner3-1-3+2.50+3.56
Richard Mitford-Slade3-1-1+2.00+0.50
Helen Nelmes2-1-1+21.00+12.20

Devon National Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Devon National over the last 20 renewals is Harry Kimber, who has won the race two times, with those two winners coming from Art Decco (2025 & 2026).

Here are some of the top Devon National 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 Kimber3-2-3+9.00+6.00
Micheal Nolan6-1-2-1.00-0.80
Harry Cobden5-1-2+4.00+3.75
Gavin Sheehan5-1-3+0.50+0.86
Nick Scholfield3-1-1+5.00+2.38
Tom Bellamy3-1-1+4.00+1.75
Ben Jones3-1-2+0.75+0.59
Bryan Carver2-1-1+19.00+11.50
Richie McLernon2-1-1+8.00+4.63
Philip Armson2-1-1+5.50+2.90

Devon National Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +41.50, is when runners ran on Soft ground last time out.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a biggest odds run of 50/1, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-31.

The courses that have produced the most winners of the Devon National are Chepstow and Wincanton; there have been a total of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 218 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 15 runners.

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

  • Dapper (2 Wins)
  • Midnight Legend (2 Wins)
  • Supreme Leader (2 Wins)

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

  • Presenting (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Alderbrook (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Westerner (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Old Vic (0 Wins from 5 runners)
  • Winged Love (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was The Clyda Rover in 2013, winning for Helen Nelmes at odds of 22/1 under the guidance of Paul Moloney. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 3 winning favourites in the race. Remember to use the best racing tipsters along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2027 Devon National. If you are interested in other races at the Exeter racecourse, then why not read our blog for the Haldon Gold Cup?

Route to the Devon National

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

InfoLast Race
2026 - Art Decco
Lingfield - PU of 14 (20/1)
mybettingsites.com Surrey National Handicap Chase
2025 - Art Decco
Windsor - 5th of 11 (12/1)
Fitzdares Windsor Stayers Handicap Chase
2024 - Mr Vango
Wincanton - 3rd of 7 (9/2)
Rodney Francis Chinnock Memorial Lord Stalbridge Cup Handicap Chase
2023 - Gwencily Berbas
Market Rasen - 5th of 6 (10/1)
Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Handicap Chase
2022 - Captain Drake
Wincanton - 6th of 8 (23/1)
Watch RacingTV With Free Trial Now Handicap Hurdle
2021 - Samuel Jackson
Exeter - 2nd of 12 (10/1)
MansionBet Bet 10 Get 20 Handicap Chase
2020 - Christmas In April
Plumpton - 3rd of 4 (4/5)
New Plumpton History Book Available Chase
2019 - Dawson City
Chepstow - 7th of 20 (16/1)
Welsh Grand National
2018 - Dawson City
Wincanton - 3rd of 9 (11/2)
Higos Insurance Services Somerset National Handicap Chase
2017 - Kingswell Theatre
Warwick - 11th of 20 (33/1)
Classic Chase

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 Devon National 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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