Clarence House Chase: Date, venue, 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 has previously been moved to feature in 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.

Clarence House Chase date

The Clarence House Chase usually takes place in January, with the 2025 renewal now scheduled for Saturday 18th January.

Clarence House Chase time

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

In 2025, the race is set to go off at 15:25 on a seven-race card at Ascot.

Clarence House Chase venue

The Clarence House Chase usually takes place at Ascot, though was moved to Cheltenham racecourse in 2023 and 2024 due to adverse weather conditions on the original date.

The race will return to Ascot in 2025 as part of the revamped Berkshire Winter Million.

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.