The Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Wetherby over a distance of about 3 miles (3 miles and 45 yards or 4,869 metres), and during its running there are nineteen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year on Boxing Day.
The event is named in honour of Rowland Meyrick, who was appointed Clerk of the course at Wetherby in 1920. At this time Meyrick was also a member of the Wetherby Race Company, an organisation which was formed to purchase the lease of the racecourse. The Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase held Grade 3 status from 2005, though it arguably reached its peak in the 1980s when Forgive 'n Forget and The Thinker both won it in the same season they would win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The race was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2022 running when Grade 3 status was renamed by the British Horseracing Authority.
Winners Weights given in stones and pounds. Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer1957 Symaethis Nephew 7 10-00 Jumbo Wilkinson Bobby Renton1958 Dondrosa 6 10-09 Tommy Kellett F Taylor 1959 Pendle Lady 9 10-06 Maurice Towers Alf Watson 1960 Merryman II 9 12-06 Gerry Scott Neville Crump1961Abandoned due to frost 1962Abandoned due to frost 1963Abandoned due to frost 1964Abandoned due to frost 1965Abandoned due to frost 1966 Tudor Fort 6 10-04 Pat Buckley Neville Crump1967 Abandoned because of foot and mouth epidemic1968 Chancer 6 09-13 Paddy Vaughan Charlie Hall1969 Chesapeake Bay 6 10–13 Pat Buckley Neville Crump1970 Excess 8 10-09 Stan Mellor Harry Thomson Jones1971 Great Noise 7 09-07 David Taylor Charlie Hall1972 Jomon 6 11-06 Tommy Stack Harry Thomson Jones1973 Tartan Ace 6 10-05 Tommy Stack Arthur Stephenson1974 Glen Owen 7 10-02 Pat Buckley Neville Crump1975 The Gent 7 10-09 Tommy Stack Arthur Stephenson1976 Irish Tony 8 10-09 Dennis Atkins Neville Crump1977 Set Point 9 11-05 David Munro Lady Herries1978 Rambling Artist 8 10–11 David Goulding A Gillam 1979 Ballet Lord 8 11-10 Colin Hawkins Neville Crump 1980 Sunset Cristo 6 10–11 Chris Grant Ray Hawkey1981 Abandoned because of snow and frost 1982 Richdee 6 10-06 Colin Hawkins Neville Crump 1983 Phil the Fluter 8 10-00 Shaun Keightley H. Wharton 1984 Forgive 'n Forget 7 11-07 Mark Dwyer Jimmy FitzGerald 1985 Fortina's Express 8 11-01 R. Hawkins Arthur Stephenson 1986 The Thinker 8 11-06 Richard Dunwoody Arthur Stephenson 1987 Yahoo 7 10-04 Tom Morgan John Edwards 1988 Whats What 9 10-01 Peter Niven Brian Bousfield 1989 Durham Edition 11 10-06 Alan Merrigan Arthur Stephenson 1990 Bluff Knoll 7 10-00 Geoff Harker Bobby Brewis 1991 Stay on Tracks 9 10-00 Chris Grant Arthur Stephenson 1992Abandoned due to frost 1993 General Pershing 7 10–13 Neale Doughty Gordon W. Richards 1994 Cogent 10 10-08 Chris Bonner Jeremy Glover 1995Abandoned due to frost 1996Abandoned due to frost 1997 Strath Royal 11 10-10 Martin Brennan Owen Brennan 1998 Random Harvest 9 09-11 Alan Dempsey Mary Reveley 1999Abandoned due to frost 2000Abandoned due to frost 2001 Behrajan 6 11-10 Mark Bradburne Henry Daly 2002Abandoned due to waterlogging 2003 Gunner Welburn 11 10-00 Richard McGrath Andrew Balding 2004 Truckers Tavern 9 11-02 Keith Mercer Ferdy Murphy 2005 Therealbandit 8 09-10 Andrew Glassonbury Martin Pipe 2006 Leading Man 6 10-00 Graham Lee Ferdy Murphy 2007 Lothian Falcon 8 10-07 Robert Walford Peter Maddison 2008 Nozic 7 10-08 Harry Skelton Paul Nicholls 2009Abandoned due to snow 2010Abandoned due to frost 2011 According to Pete 10 09-11 Harry Haynes Malcolm Jefferson 2012 Cape Tribulation 8 11-10 Jack Doyle Malcolm Jefferson 2013 Cloudy Too 7 11-00 Jonathan England Sue Smith 2014 Dolatulo 7 11-04 Dougie Costello Warren Greatrex 2015Abandoned due to waterlogging 2016 Red 7 11-00 Henry Brooke Brian Ellison 2017 Get On The Yager 7 10-07 Henry Brooke Dan Skelton 2018 Lake View Lad 8 11-10 Henry Brooke Nick Alexander 2019 Top Ville Ben 7 11-11 Thomas Dowson Philip Kirby 2020 Canelo 7 11-06 Tom Bellamy Alan King 2021 Good Boy Bobby 8 11-08 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies 2022 Into Overdrive 7 10-11 Jamie Hamilton Mark Walford 2023 Fontaine Collonges 8 10-03 Shane Quinlan Venetia Williams 2024 Some Scope 6 09-09 Charlie Maggs Richard Hobson 2025 Konfusion 7 11-02 Callum Bewley Joel Parkinson & Sue Smith
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races
References
Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
pedigreequery.com – Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase – Wetherby. greyhoundderby.com – Brief history of Wetherby Racecourse.
External links Race Recordings (1985, 1989, 1990, 1994-2008) youtube.com