The Grade 1 Clarence House Chase is one of the highlights of the early year calendar, often providing punters with pointers towards the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Usually held at Ascot, the race will now for a part of Cheltenham’s Festival Trials Day after the initial race was postponed due to bad weather. The Clarence House Chase often acts as a showcase for the leading two-milers, providing their trainers with a chance to lay down a marker for future clashes.
First run as a handicap in 1989, it has been a conditions race since 2008 and the 2024 renewal had looked set to be a head-to-head between two unbeaten stars this season.
El Fabiolo and Jonbon have clashed at Cheltenham before and Saturday's meeting had looked to act as a precursor for another Prestbury Park duel in the spring.
El Fabiolo is not set to run at the rearranged Cheltenham meeting, leaving rival Jonbon a clear run from a reduced field of six.
The Clarence House Chase usually takes place in January, with the 2024 renewal now scheduled for Saturday 18th January.
The Clarence House Chase is always held on a Saturday afternoon.
In 2025, the race is set to go off at 2.25 on a eight-race card at Cheltenham.
The Clarence House Chase usually takes place at Ascot but was moved to Cheltenham racecourse in 2024 due to a frozen track at Ascot on the original date. The race will return to Ascot in 2025.
January is the time of year when Willie Mullins' name starts to creep into the results pages and his horse Un De Sceaux dominated this race between 2016 and 2018.
Ruby Walsh guided the son of Denham Red to glory in both 2016 and 2017, before the gelding partnered Paul Townend to victory in the 2018 renewal to take his tally to a record three victories.
Walsh's two successes on board Un De Sceaux contributed to a record tally of four victories for the Irishman.
His other two came for Paul Nicholls, winning with Master Minded in 2009 and then Twist Magic a year later.
Nicky Henderson's longevity is reiterated in the Winners' list for this race, with the Seven Barrows supremo having trained a record six separate winners of the Clarence House Chase over a 26-year period.
His first victory came with Big Matt in 1996, before a bit of a break before Isio took the honours in 2004.
Tysou was the 2006 hero, while both Sprinter Sacre (2013) and Altior (2019) won this race before taking out the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in the same year.
Henderson's most recent win in the Clarence House Chase came with Shishkin, who had 2019 winning rider Nico De Boinville in the plate, in 2022.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.