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Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
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THEKING
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Day
Wednesday
Time
14:00
Grade
Grade 1
Distance
3m
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Brown Advisory Novices' Chase 2026: How To Bet?
Race Details:
Date: 11 March 2026
Grade: 1
Open To: Five-years-old and up
Track: Turf
Length: 4,928 Metres
Location: United Kingdom
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase 2026: Cheltenham Festival Betting Preview
The Race That Produces Gold Cup Winners Had Its Favourite Humbled at Leopardstown, and Now Nobody Knows What Comes Next
Wednesday, 11 March 2026 | 2:00 PM | Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire
Grade 1 Novice Chase (Registered as the Broadway Novices' Chase) | 3 Miles 110 Yards | Old Course | 20 Fences | 5yo+
The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase is the race that builds Gold Cup horses. Arkle won it in 1963 and then won three consecutive Gold Cups. Denman took it in 2007 and landed the Gold Cup the following March. Bobs Worth completed the same double in 2012 and 2013. Lord Windermere did it in 2013 and 2014. Even the beaten horses go on to extraordinary things - Minella Indo finished second in 2020 before winning the Gold Cup in 2021, and Fact To File won this race in 2024 and is currently favourite for the 2026 Gold Cup after demolishing the field in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown. When trainers look at their best staying novice chasers and ask the question "where do we go at the Festival?", this is the answer. Three miles over the Old Course, twenty fences, the Cheltenham hill, and a field of horses who believe they are the next generation's staying chase star.
That is the context for 2026, a year in which the race arrives with more uncertainty than at any point in recent memory. Final Demand, the Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old who was evens for this race after Christmas and looked destined to start at odds-on, was humbled at the Dublin Racing Festival on February 1st. He finished last of three finishers behind stablemate Kaid d'Authie, jumping poorly throughout and fading tamely in the straight while his stablemate drew further clear. Paul Townend, his jockey, summarised it perfectly: "The bubble burst." That single result has reshaped the entire market. What was a one-horse race is now an open contest with at least half a dozen serious contenders, several of whom have legitimate claims to Gold Cup futures of their own.
Forty-three horses hold entries. The final field will depend on which connections choose this race over the Arkle, the National Hunt Chase, or targets elsewhere. But the ante-post market is already telling a clear story, and it is a story of a horse who was supposed to dominate but stumbled, a stablemate who seized the opportunity, and a cluster of improvers who now see a genuine chance to win one of the most prestigious novice races in the calendar.
The Ante-Post Market
Time Stamp: Friday, February 21, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Oddschecker / William Hill
Final Demand 3.00 | Kaid d'Authie 4.00 | The Big Westerner 6.00 | Romeo Coolio 7.00 | Wendigo 7.00 | Western Fold 8.00 | Sixmilebridge 12.00 | Oscars Brother 12.00 | Koktail Divin 14.00 | Kitzbuhel 16.00 | Salver 18.00
That market looks nothing like it did six weeks ago. In early January, Final Demand was 10/11 and the field bar Final Demand was 10/1. Now he is a best-priced 3.00 joint favourite with his own stablemate, and there are at least five horses in single-figure odds. The Dublin Racing Festival did what the Dublin Racing Festival always does to the Brown Advisory market: it rearranged everything.
Final Demand: The Fallen Favourite With Something to Prove
Final Demand's trajectory this season reads like a classic Cheltenham favourite arc right up until the point where it goes sideways. Willie Mullins' seven-year-old looked a natural over fences from the moment he jumped his first one at Navan in November, winning his beginners' chase with the kind of authority that immediately shortened him to 7/4 for this race. He followed that with an impressive Grade 1 victory in the Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick over Christmas, after which he was cut to even-money in most shops and odds-on in some. The Gold Cup comparisons with Fact To File were already flowing. Owner Bryan Drew said before the DRF that he believed the horse had not yet been fully fit in either start and that there was more to come.
There was less to come. At Leopardstown on February 1st, Final Demand was sent off the 30/100 favourite for the Ladbrokes Novice Chase against three rivals, two of them stablemates. He led for much of the contest but jumped sloppily throughout, missing the fifth-last and compounding the error at the next. Kaid d'Authie, his 5/1 stablemate, outjumped him at the third fence from home and kicked clear before the turn, eventually winning by four and a quarter lengths from the staying-on Western Fold. Final Demand weakened to finish a distant and disappointing third, eight lengths behind the runner-up.
Mullins did not hide his frustration. He said he was disappointed with the jumping at the second and third fences, that the horse missed the fifth-last and failed to recover quickly enough, and that the overall performance was simply not good enough. He noted that Townend had described the horse twisting in the air, raising the possibility of a minor physical issue that might not be immediately visible. The Sporting Life assessment after the DRF was blunt: he looked like a likely odds-on Festival favourite at the start of the season, but arguably should not even be market leader now.
And yet the market has not fully abandoned him. At 3.00 he remains at the head of the betting, which reflects two things. First, the ability he showed at Navan and Limerick was genuine - you do not win a Grade 1 at Christmas by jumping adequately and getting away with it. Second, Mullins has been here before. Lecky Watson won this race last year at 20/1 after Ballyburn, the 4/7 favourite, pulled hard and could only finish fifth. Mullins somehow still won the race with what was widely regarded as his fourth-best horse. The master of Closutton does not always win with the one you expect, but he tends to win.
The question for anyone backing Final Demand is whether the DRF performance was a blip or a warning. He has not run since February 1st, and there has been no public update suggesting a physical problem was found. If he lines up at Cheltenham with five weeks between runs, freshened up and jumping more fluently, the form of his first two chase starts suggests he has the class to win this race. But if the DRF issues persist, he is vulnerable to several horses who are going the right way.
Kaid d'Authie: The Stablemate Who Seized His Moment
The horse who caused the DRF upset is now the one generating the most intrigue in the Mullins yard. Kaid d'Authie was cut from 16/1 to 4/1 for the Brown Advisory after his facile victory at Leopardstown, and his story is one of a horse whose racetrack performances had never matched what connections were seeing at home - until cheekpieces changed everything.
Mullins was characteristically candid after the race. He said that Kaid d'Authie had always shown him a lot at home but had been consistently disappointing on the track. The addition of cheekpieces for the DRF appeared to flick a switch. Carrying the JP McManus silks under Mark Walsh, Kaid d'Authie jumped accurately throughout, kicked clear before the home turn, and found plenty on the run-in to put the race to bed. Walsh reported that his mount made only one mistake, at the third-last, and was otherwise foot-perfect.
The horse is a big, shouldery individual who looks every inch a staying chaser, and comparisons with Don Poli - who won this race for Mullins in 2015 - have some visual merit. The concern is his age. Kaid d'Authie is only six years old, and the Brown Advisory has been overwhelmingly dominated by seven-year-olds. Sixteen of the last nineteen winners were aged seven, and only three winners since 1978 have been younger than that. Both of the recent six-year-old exceptions, Florida Pearl and Don Poli, were trained by Mullins, which either means the trend is less relevant when the horse comes from Closutton or that Mullins is the only trainer capable of overcoming it. There is also the question of whether good ground at Cheltenham will suit a horse who won on soft at Leopardstown. Frank Hickey, the Paddy Power trader, was positive about the horse's ability but questioned whether he would always appreciate drying ground.
The Big Westerner: The Albert Bartlett Route and the Mare With Unfinished Business
If historical trends count for anything in the Brown Advisory, The Big Westerner deserves serious attention. Henry de Bromhead's seven-year-old mare finished second in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at last year's Festival, and the Albert Bartlett has been the single most productive guide to this race in recent years. Seven of the last sixteen Brown Advisory winners previously ran in the Albert Bartlett, making it a far more reliable indicator than any other single trial. The Big Westerner did not just run in it - she was unlucky, suffering significant interference at the second-last when appearing to hold every chance.
Her switch to fences this season has gone well. She lost on her seasonal debut but won the Grade 2 Dawn Run Novice Chase last time out, beating the Grade 1-winning mare Jade de Grugy. At around 6.00, she offers the 7yo age profile that dominates this race, Albert Bartlett course form at Cheltenham, and a trainer in de Bromhead who saddled Bob Olinger to win the Turners before and knows how to prepare Festival horses. The concern is that she has had only two runs over fences - the last horse to win the Brown Advisory off fewer than three chase starts was Don Poli in 2015, and before that, Florida Pearl in 1998.
Western Fold: The Galway Plate Champion Who Is Technically Still a Novice
Western Fold's situation is one of the most intriguing angles in the entire race. Gordon Elliott's seven-year-old is the reigning Galway Plate champion, rated 157 over fences, and yet he is still technically a novice because he had not won a chase before his qualifying season began. As Rory Delargy pointed out on the Paddy Power podcast, that rating alone makes him exceptional. Delargy was emphatic in his support, saying that you will find very few horses who have gone into the Brown Advisory with a rating that high, and that he would be happy to back him win-only at his current price.
Western Fold ran a creditable race at the DRF, finishing second behind Kaid d'Authie and well clear of the disappointing Final Demand. He fits the 7yo profile, has proven stamina for three miles, and comes from a trainer who has won this race before with... wait. No, he hasn't. Gordon Elliott has sent eleven runners to the Brown Advisory without recording a single winner. That is a remarkable statistic for a trainer of his calibre, and it is the one number that anyone backing Western Fold needs to sit with. Tony Keenan spotted the novice angle and highlighted it publicly, and the market has responded - Western Fold is now around 8.00 having been 20/1 in January.
Romeo Coolio: The Trip Question
Romeo Coolio is another Elliott contender, and his case is built on raw ability rather than proven stamina. The seven-year-old has won his last four starts including a Grade 1 at Leopardstown over two miles and one furlong, but he has never raced beyond that distance over fences. At the DRF he beat the Mullins-trained Kargese in a tight finish, but Frank Hickey raised a legitimate concern: "He took all of the straight to get past Irish Panther at Leopardstown. My worry is, do you go from 2m 1f, skip the DRF and go straight to three miles?" Romeo Coolio also holds an entry in the Arkle, and the Brown Advisory would represent a significant step up in trip. At 7.00, the market is pricing in considerable doubt about which race he will contest.
Wendigo: The Patient Stalker From a Festival-Savvy Yard
Wendigo's name has appeared in connection with this race since before Christmas, and nothing that has happened since has weakened his claims. Jamie Snowden's seven-year-old finished third in the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day behind Kitzbuhel, a performance that experts felt was better than it looked. Delargy noted that Kempton would not have suited Wendigo, that three miles had always looked optimal, and that Snowden's yard has an excellent record of laying horses out for the Festival. Hickey was more specific: "I'd probably back Wendigo each-way."
The At The Races analysis added context. All twenty-three winners of the Kauto Star who subsequently ran in the Brown Advisory were beaten, but eight beaten horses from that Kempton race have gone on to win at Cheltenham over the very different terrain. Wendigo also finished fifth in last year's Albert Bartlett after stumbling badly at a crucial stage, giving him Festival course experience. At 7.00-8.00, he fits every key trend: seven years old, Irish trainer or British trainer who targets the Festival specifically, previous Cheltenham experience, and form over staying distances.
Sixmilebridge: The Scilly Isles Winner With a Decision to Make
Sixmilebridge produced the feel-good British performance of the trial season when winning the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novice Chase at Sandown on January 31st. Fergal O'Brien's seven-year-old made all the running under Kielan Woods and drew clear to beat Kala Conti by five lengths in a race that lost its shape early when odds-on favourite Kitzbuhel unseated Paul Townend at the sixth fence. The victory was a first Grade 1 for both owner and trainer over fences, and the celebrations were palpable.
O'Brien said afterwards that his gut feeling was that Sixmilebridge is a three-miler, pointing him towards the Brown Advisory rather than the Arkle. However, in a subsequent interview on February 9th, O'Brien indicated that the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap Chase might be the preferred Cheltenham target, reasoning that soft ground and a handicap profile could suit better than the Grade 1 company in the Brown Advisory. At 12.00, the market reflects the uncertainty over where he will run. If he does line up in the Brown Advisory, his unbeaten chasing record (three from three, with a win at Cheltenham earlier in the season) and the 7yo age profile make him a legitimate each-way player.
Kitzbuhel: The Kauto Star Winner With Cheltenham Doubts
Kitzbuhel is the wildcard in the Mullins armoury. The six-year-old won the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton impressively on Boxing Day, jumping with the kind of precision that had Delargy calling it a seriously impressive display. He went forward, jumped superbly, and never let anything into the race. But Kempton is flat, fast, and right-handed - the opposite of Cheltenham in almost every respect. When Kitzbuhel crossed the Irish Sea for the Scilly Isles at Sandown, he unseated Townend at the sixth fence, ending his race before it had properly begun.
Both Hickey and Delargy have expressed doubts about whether three miles around Cheltenham's stiffer track would bring out his best. Hickey suggested the WillowWarm Gold Cup would be a better target, while Delargy wondered whether Cheltenham was really his thing despite the horse passing his first test with flying colours at Kempton. At 16.00, the market is pricing him as a longer shot, which seems about right for a six-year-old who has fallen on his last start and faces trip and track concerns.
Trends and Statistics
Time Stamp: Friday, February 21, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Oddschecker / William Hill
The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase has been one of the more form-reliable races at the Festival in recent years, and the trends point clearly toward a specific type of winner.
Seven-year-olds have dominated this race to an extraordinary degree. Sixteen of the last nineteen winners were aged seven, and nine of the last twelve were that age. The only exceptions in the past decade were Champ (8yo, 2020), Don Poli (6yo, 2015), and Might Bite (8yo, 2017). This trend is the single strongest statistical filter available, and it immediately favours Final Demand, The Big Westerner, Romeo Coolio, Wendigo, Western Fold, and Sixmilebridge - all of whom are seven years old. Kaid d'Authie (6) and Kitzbuhel (6) sit outside the sweet spot.
The DRF Leopardstown Grade 1 Novice Chase is the dominant trial for this race. Seven of the last eleven winners came through this route, generating a remarkable profit for punters who followed the DRF winner blindly. Fact To File (2024), Monkfish (2021), and Galopin Des Champs (who won the DRF trial in 2022 but was re-routed) all used the Leopardstown race as their springboard. The 2026 DRF winner was Kaid d'Authie, with Western Fold second and Final Demand third - all three are entered here.
Favourites have a strong record, winning five of the last eight renewals. The market has tended to identify the winner accurately in this race, with only Lecky Watson (20/1, 2025), The Real Whacker (8/1, 2023), and Blaklion (8/1, 2016) causing significant upsets in the past decade. Ten of the last twelve winners came from the top three in the betting.
Nine of the last twelve winners recorded a victory on their most recent start before Cheltenham. Ten of twelve finished in the top three. This is a race where winning momentum matters, and it creates a potential issue for Final Demand, whose last run was that disappointing third at the DRF.
Willie Mullins has now won this race seven times - more than any other trainer in history. His winners span Florida Pearl (1998) through to Lecky Watson (2025), and he has won two of the last three renewals. With potentially three or four runners in this year's field (Final Demand, Kaid d'Authie, Kitzbuhel, and possibly others), the likelihood of another Mullins winner is statistically high. Gordon Elliott, by contrast, has sent eleven runners to this race without a single winner - a remarkable drought for a trainer of his stature that should give pause to anyone backing Romeo Coolio or Western Fold.
The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle has been the most productive single trial from the previous Festival, with seven of the last sixteen Brown Advisory winners having competed in it. The Big Westerner (2nd) and Wendigo (5th but badly hampered) both ran in the 2025 Albert Bartlett.
Race History
The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase was established in 1946 as the Broadway Novices' Chase, making it one of the oldest races at the Cheltenham Festival. It was sponsored by the Tote from 1964 to 1973, then by Sun Alliance and its successor companies from 1974 to 2020 - a remarkable forty-six-year association that made the "RSA Chase" one of the most familiar race names in the calendar. Brown Advisory, the American investment firm, took over the sponsorship from 2021.
The race has served as the launching pad for some of the greatest staying chasers in National Hunt history. Arkle's victory in 1963 announced the arrival of the horse who would redefine the sport, winning three consecutive Gold Cups from 1964 to 1966. Denman's powerful front-running display in 2007 was the beginning of a career that would produce one of the great Gold Cup performances the following year. Bobs Worth, Lord Windermere, and Minella Indo (second in 2020, Gold Cup winner in 2021) all used this race as the foundation for their staying chase careers. More recently, Fact To File's dominant 2024 victory has proven prophetic - he is now the Gold Cup favourite after his Irish Gold Cup triumph.
The race is run over three miles and 110 yards on the Old Course, the tighter and stiffer of Cheltenham's two tracks. There are twenty fences to negotiate, and the demands are unforgiving: horses need bold, accurate jumping at speed through the middle third of the race and enough stamina to handle the famous hill finish when fatigue sets in approaching the last two fences. It is this combination that separates the genuine Gold Cup prospects from the merely capable staying novices.
Willie Mullins leads the all-time trainer standings with seven wins. Nicky Henderson has three, as does Paul Nicholls. The legendary Pat Taaffe remains the leading jockey in the race's history with five victories between 1953 and 1970, a record that stands as a monument to an era when the Brown Advisory (then the Broadway) was already one of the most important novice races in the sport.
Quick Reference: Key Odds
Time Stamp: Friday, February 21, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Oddschecker / William Hill
Final Demand 3.00 | Trainer: Willie Mullins | Jockey: Paul Townend
Kaid d'Authie 4.00 | Trainer: Willie Mullins | Jockey: Mark Walsh
The Big Westerner 6.00 | Trainer: Henry de Bromhead | Jockey: TBC
Romeo Coolio 7.00 | Trainer: Gordon Elliott | Jockey: TBC
Wendigo 7.00 | Trainer: Jamie Snowden | Jockey: Gavin Sheehan
Western Fold 8.00 | Trainer: Gordon Elliott | Jockey: TBC
Sixmilebridge 12.00 | Trainer: Fergal O'Brien | Jockey: Kielan Woods
Oscars Brother 12.00 | Trainer: Connor King | Jockey: TBC
Koktail Divin 14.00 | Trainer: Henry de Bromhead | Jockey: TBC
Kitzbuhel 16.00 | Trainer: Willie Mullins | Jockey: Paul Townend (TBC)
Salver 18.00 | Trainer: G & J Moore | Jockey: TBC
2025 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase Result
1st Lecky Watson (21.00, 20/1) - Willie Mullins / Sean O'Keeffe
2nd Stellar Story - Gordon Elliott - 4L
3rd Better Days Ahead - Gordon Elliott
5th Ballyburn (1.57, 4/7f) - Willie Mullins / Paul Townend
Last 10 Winners
2025: Lecky Watson 21.00 (20/1) - Willie Mullins (7yo)
2024: Fact To File 1.62 (8/13f) - Willie Mullins (7yo)
2023: The Real Whacker 9.00 (8/1) - Patrick Neville (7yo)
2022: L'Homme Presse 3.25 (9/4f) - Venetia Williams (7yo)
2021: Monkfish 1.25 (1/4f) - Willie Mullins (7yo)
2020: Champ 5.00 (4/1) - Nicky Henderson (8yo)
2019: Topofthegame 5.00 (4/1) - Paul Nicholls (7yo)
2018: Presenting Percy 3.50 (5/2f) - Pat Kelly (7yo)
2017: Might Bite 4.50 (7/2f) - Nicky Henderson (8yo)
2016: Blaklion 9.00 (8/1) - Nigel Twiston-Davies (7yo)
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