2024 Cheltenham Cross Country Chase Trends

Need some help finding the winner of the 2024 edition of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at this year's Cheltenham Festival? Well, look no further because our team of experts at Bookies.com have done the hard work for you by pinpointing the most critical trends and pointers from the last 10 renewals in order to help you find the winner of this unique contest when looking at the runners and riders on your horse racing betting sites.

The last 10 winners:

• Had run at least four times in the last 12 months
• Had run at least seven times over fences
• Last won over a distance of at least 2m5f
• Had won at least one chase
• Had previously run at Cheltenham
• Had competed over 3m2f or further - seven winning over 3m4f or further

Nine of the last 10 winners:

• Were aged eight or older (exception six-year-old Easysland)
• Had run in at least 14 chases - Josies Orders had run in nine

Eight of the last 10 winners:

• Had run in at least one cross country or banks race (exceptions Rivage D'Or and Delta Work)

Key Trials from the last 10 years

• The Grade 2 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in December has thrown up three winners in the last 10 years (Easysland, Tiger Roll, Josies Orders). Additionally, plenty of runners from that race have been placed. 
• The Grade 2 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in November has also thrown up three winners in the last decade (Tiger Roll twice, Cause Of Causes) and some placed horses. 

Trainer Trends

• Gordon Elliott has five wins in the last seven years, with Tiger Roll largely to thank for his impressive strike rate. When temporarily trained by Denise Foster in 2021, he won the race for a third time by a cool 18 lengths aged 11, though stablemate Delta Work spoiled the party in 2022, beating him by three-quarters of a length. Delta Work followed up in 2023.
• Philip Hobbs has also had some success here with two wins (Balthazar King both times) from 11 runners. He's the only trainer based in Britain to win this race in its 19-year history.
• Enda Bolger has won it five times, although only one of those victories came in the last decade.
• David Cottin became the first French trainer to win the race in 2020 when landing it with Easyland in the JP McManus colours. 

Jockey Trends

• Keith Donoghue has won three times on Tiger Roll and once on Delta Work. No other current rider has won the race more than once.

How did the trends do last year?

Delta Work, having won the race in 2022 and a banks chase at Punchestown, is now a far stronger pick on trends than he had been the previous year. He also finished third in the 2022 Aintree Grand National and hailed from the stable responsible for six of the last seven winners.

His stablemate Galvin finished second, followed by the Willie Mullins-trained Franco Du Port, who was 26 lengths behind the front two.

Who Fits The Trends Best In 2024?

Delta Work is back for more, and his two impressive wins will make him hard to beat again. However, his trainer Gordon Elliott has a formidable line-up in the entries, with PP Hogan Punchestown Banks Race winner Coko Beach and Cheltenham National Hunt Chase winners Galvin and Stattler standing out on trends.

It's important to remember that this is not a handicap. The vast majority of cross country and banks races in Britain and Ireland are, so winning one of those getting lumps of weight from another doesn't necessarily mean you'll follow up with Festival victory.

Look for a classier horse, who jumps well, has bags of chasing experience and has been placed in a cross country or banks race.

2023 Cheltenham Cross Country Result