Clarence House Chase: Date, how to watch, history & more

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.

Clarence House Chase Date

The Clarence House Chase usually takes place in January, with the 2024 renewal now scheduled for Saturday 27th January.

Clarence House Chase Time

The Clarence House Chase is always held on a Saturday afternoon.

In 2024, the race is set to go off at 2.25 on a eight-race card at Cheltenham. 

Clarence House Chase Venue

The Clarence House Chase usually takes place at Ascot but the race has been moved to Cheltenham racecourse due to a frozen track at Ascot on the original date.

Clarence House Chase How to Watch

As ever, horse racing fans can watch the Clarence House Chase via bet365's Sports Live Streaming service.

Clarence House Chase Most Wins by a Horse

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. 

Clarence House Chase Most Wins by a Jockey

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. 

Clarence House Chase Most Wins by a Trainer

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.  

Clarence House Chase Odds

Henderson could add another victory on Saturday, with Jonbon 1/4 to back up his Schloer Chase and Tingle Creek victories in the absence of his rival El Fabiolo, he looks set to extend his winning streak to five. 

Jonbon came out on top by a neck when they met at Aintree in April 2022, but El Fabiolo was the hero as he partnered Townend to his own narrow success in last year's Arkle duel at the Festival.

There are only five other entrants, second favourite is former Clarence House Chase champion Editeur Du Gite at 13/2 & Joe Tizzard's Elixir De Nutz, a winner at both Exeter and Newbury this season, who is available at 16/1. 

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.