Staged at Doncaster racecourse the Skybet Chase (formerly known as the Great Yorkshire Chase) is a Listed Handicap run over 3m. The race can often throw up some Grand National clues, although no winner in the last 15 runnings has gone onto win the Aintree marathon.
In recent years, the Alan King, Paul Nicholls and Pipe stables have dominated the race with two wins a-piece since 2003, while in the last 15 runnings we’ve seen just two winning favourites – the 2020 Skybet Chase was won by the Nicky Henderson-trained Ok Corral at 9/1.
Here at RACING AHEAD we look back at recent winners (note, the 2010 and 2011 runnings were abandoned) and gives you the key stats to take into the 2021 renewal – this year being run on Saturday 30th January.
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Recent Skybet Chase Winners
2020 – OK CORRAL (9/1)
2019 – GO CONQUER
2018 – WAKANDA (8/1)
2017 – ZIGA BOY (10/1)
2016 – ZIGA BOY (8/1)
2015 – IF IN DOUBT (4/1 fav)
2014 – RAINBOW HUNTER (25/1)
2013 – Meeting Abandoned
2012 – CALGARY BAY (12/1)
2009 – BIG FELLA THANKS (9/2)
2008 – AN ACCORDION (11/2 fav)
2007 – SIMON (7/1)
2006 – A GLASS IN THYNE (16/1)
2005 – COLOURFUL LIFE (9/1)
2004 – TYNEANDTHYNEAGAIN (7/1)
2003 – BARRYSCOURT LAD (9/2)
Key Skybet Chase Betting Trends
14/15 – Had won between 0-3 times over fences before
12/15 – Carried 11-2 or less
12/15 – Aged 9 or younger
12/15 – Officially rated 130 or higher
12/15 – Had won over at least 3m (fences) before
11/15 – Returned 9/1 or shorter in the betting
10/15 – Unplaced favourites
9/15 – Carried 10-12 or less
9/15 – Had raced within the last 4 weeks
9/15 – Irish bred
8/15 – Finished unplaced last time out
8/15 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
5/15 – Raced at Cheltenham last time out
3/15 – Won last time out
2/15 – Trained by Paul Nicholls
2/15 – Trained by the Pipe stable
2/15 – Winning favourites
2/15 – Trained by Alan King
The average winning SP in the last 15 runnings is 9/1
Other Stats:
4 of the last 15 winners of this race went onto contest the William Hill Trophy (now JLT Chase) at the Cheltenham Festival that season (1 winner)
5 of the last 15 winners went onto run in that season’s Grand National (no winners, all unplaced)
RACING AHEAD VERDICT: Another decent renewal of the Sky Bet Chase, but it’s hard to ignore the chance of the Christian Williams runner – CAP DU NORD, having run the very useful Royale Pagaille to 3 ¼ at Kempton last time out. The winner franked the form with an easy win at Haydock last Saturday and is being billed as a possible Gold Cup horse after that. Prior to that second, Cap Du Nord, beat another leading player here – Canelo – by just over 4 lengths at Newbury and despite a 9lb pull in the weights, I think Cap Du Nord can still have his measure. Of the rest, One For The Team hails from the Nick Williams yard that have a 50% record with their chasers here, while the Kim Bailey yard boasts a 30% strike-rate here so their Rocky’s Treasure is another to note after bouncing back to form here last time out. However, it’s the horse that came a ½ length second to him last time – GIVE ME A COPPER (e/w) – that also gets a good mention. This Paul Nicholls runner was having his first run back that day so can be expected to have improved for that, while it was also his first since a wind operation. Harry Cobden takes over in the saddle and despite his age (11), he’s a very lightly-raced chaser, with just 8 runs and looks the sort to have a prize like this in his locker.
