Despite its relatively new place on the racing calendar, the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park has quickly become one of the early-season highlights in the National Hunt season.
The 3m 1f test is the first Grade 1 Chase of the season in the UK and is often serves as the first race of the campaign for the best staying chasers in Britain and Ireland.
With notoriously tough fences to jump and 19 of them to clear in total, horses that run well in the race often have repeat success. Cue Card, Silviniaco Conti, Kauto Star and Bristol De Mai are all multiple winners of the race despite just 14 runnings.
The Betfair Chase is also the first leg of the Stayers Triple Crown, with a £1 million bonus for any horse which manages to win the Betfair Chase at Haydock, the King George at Kempton and the Cheltenham Gold Cup at The Festival.
The last horse to win the Stayers Triple Crown was Kauto Star in 2006/07, with Paul Nicholls’ superstar taking the Betfair Chase on no less than four occasions in total. Nigel Twiston-Davies' Bristol De Mai was an emphatic winner of the race in 2017 and 2018 but failed to win the second or third leg after victory at Haydock.
The 2019 running of the Betfair Chase will take place on Saturday November 23, with £112,450 to the winner and a total prize fund of £200,000.