Haydock Park Racecourse is one of the most popular courses in the UK and was named Racecourse of the Year in both 1998 and 2000.
The Merseyside track is located uniquely on the boundary of four towns; Ashton-in-Makerfield to the north, Golborne to the east, Newton-le-Willows to the south and of course Haydock to the west.
There are numerous well-regarded races held at Haydock Park, with the course retaining a prominent position in both the flat and National Hunt seasons.
The course’s standout race is the Betfair Chase. First run in 2005, the Betfair Chase is the first leg of the Stayers Chase Triple Crown. Originally known as the Betfair Million, the race sponsors served up a £1 million prize for any horse that won the Betfair Chase, the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day at Kempton and the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following March. Betfair dropped the bonus from the 2010 season, having paid out once in 2006/07 to Kauto Star. However, the prize was reintroduced by the Jockey Club in 2010 but has not been won since. Any future winner of the Stayers Chase Triple Crown will be awarded the Kauto Star Trophy.
Held in November each year, the Betfair Chase is a Grade 1 race open to horses aged five years or older. Betfair Chase entrants tackle 19 fences over a distance of 3 miles, 1 furlong and 125 yards. Between 2005 and 2017 the Betfair Chase was run over 3 miles but the slightly longer distance allowed competing horses a longer run up to the first bend.
Previous Betfair Million winner and National Hunt legend, Kauto Star, is the most successful horse in the Betfair Chase’s relatively short history. Kauto Star won the race four times in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Kauto Star is not the only multiple winner of this race. Cue Card (2013, 2015 and 2016) and Bristol De Mai (2017, 2018 and 2020) have won three times apiece and Silviniaco Conti won twice in 2012 and 2014.
Past Winners | Betfair Chase
Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Bristol De Mai | Daryl Jacob | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
2019 | Lostintranslation | Robbie Power | Colin Tizzard |
2018 | Bristol De Mai | Daryl Jacob | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
2017 | Bristol De Mai | Daryl Jacob | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
2016 | Cue Card | Paddy Brennan | Colin Tizzard |
2015 | Cue Card | Paddy Brennan | Colin Tizzard |
2014 | Silviniaco Conti | Noel Fehily | Paul Nicholls |
2013 | Cue Card | Joe Tizzard | Colin Tizzard |
2012 | Silviniaco Conti | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
2011 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
2010 | Imperial Commander | Paddy Brennan | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
2009 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
2008 | Snoopy Loopy | Seamus Durack | Peter Bowen |
2007 | Kauto Star | Sam Thomas | Paul Nicholls |
2006 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
2005 | Kingscliff | Robert Walford | Robert Alner |