The Tommy Whittle Chase is a National Hunt handicap steeplechase in England which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of about 2 miles and 7 furlongs (2 miles 6 furlongs and 204 yards, or 4,612 metres) and during its running there are 18 fences to be jumped. It is scheduled to take place each year in December.
The race was first run in 1982, and is named in honour of the late Tommy Whittle, a director of Haydock Park for 30 years, 13 of which were spent as chairman.
In 2004 the race had Grade 2 status and was considered sufficiently important to be included in the British Horseracing Board's new Order of Merit series. However, the following year it was turned into a handicap, and as a result has since attracted a lower grade of runners.
Winners Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer1982 Little Owl 8 11-02 Jim Wilson Peter Easterby1983 Prince Rowan 7 10–12 Dermot Browne Michael Dickinson1984 Gaye Chance 9 10–12 Sam Morshead Mercy Rimell1985 Earls Brig 10 10–12 Phil Tuck W Hamilton1986 Forgive 'n Forget 9 11-02 Mark Dwyer Jimmy FitzGerald1987 Abandoned because of frost 1988 The Thinker 10 11-02 Alan Merrigan Arthur Stephenson 1989 Baies 7 10–12 Peter Scudamore Charlie Brooks 1990 Celtic Shot 8 11-02 Graham McCourt Charlie Brooks1991 Abandoned because of frost 1992 Twin Oaks 12 11-02 Richard Dunwoody Gordon W. Richards 1993 Gambling Royal 10 10–12 Adrian Maguire David Nicholson 1994 Chatam 10 10-05 Richard Dunwoody Martin Pipe 1995 One Man 7 10-05 Mark Dwyer Gordon W. Richards 1996 Abandoned because of frost 1997 The Grey Monk 9 11-02 Peter Niven Gordon W. Richards 1998 Suny Bay 9 10–12 Graham Bradley Simon Sherwood 1999 Bobby Grant 8 11-03 Robbie Supple Peter Beaumont 2000 Bobby Grant 9 11-08 Russ Garritty Peter Beaumont 2001 Legal Right 8 11-02 Tony McCoy Jonjo O'Neill 2002 Sackville 9 11-08 Timmy Murphy Frances Crowley 2003 Keen Leader 7 11-05 Barry Geraghty Jonjo O'Neill 2004 Chives 9 11-00 Dominic Elsworth Sue Smith 2005 Captain Corelli 8 10-02 Tom O'Brien Philip Hobbs 2006 Kandjar D'allier 8 11-04 Wayne Hutchinson Alan King 2007 Cloudy Lane 7 11-03 Jason Maguire Donald McCain 2008 Malko De Beaumont 8 10-02 Mark Bradburne Alan Brown2009 Abandoned because of frost 2010 Abandoned because of snow 2011 Cannington Brook 7 10-09 Tom O'Brien Colin Tizzard 2012 Cannington Brook 8 11–12 Tom O'Brien Colin Tizzard 2013 Night Alliance 8 11-00 Leighton Aspell Dr Richard Newland 2014 Broadway Buffalo 6 10–11 Conor O'Farrell David Pipe 2015 Seventh Sky 8 11–12 Gavin Sheehan Charlie Mann 2016 Yala Enki 6 11-07 Charlie Deutsch Venetia Williams 2017 Captain Redbeard 8 10-12 Sam Coltherd Stuart Coltherd 2018 Daklondike 6 11-09 Tom Scudamore David Pipe 2019 Lord Du Mesnil 6 10-05 Paul O'Brien Richard Hobson 2020 Sam's Adventure 8 11-04 Brian Hughes Brian Ellison 2021 Enqarde 7 10-09 Charlie Hammond Dr Richard Newland2022 Abandoned because of frost 2023 Famous Bridge 7 11-09 Sean Quinlan Nicky Richards 2024 Egbert 7 11-04 Gavin Sheehan Alan King 2025 Grand Geste 6 10-02 Danny McMenamin Joel Parkinson & Sue Smith
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races
References
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