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Celebration Chase

Steeplechase horse race in Britain

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.
Celebration Chase
2026
Edwardstone JPR One Solness
Previous years
2025
Il Etait Temps Jonbon Energumene
2024
Jonbon El Fabiolo Edwardstone
2023
Jonbon Captain Guinness Greaneteen
2022
Greaneteen Sceau Royal Nube Negra
2021
Greaneteen Altior Sceau Royal
2020-2011
2019
Altior Sceau Royal God's Own
2018
Altior San Benedeto God's Own
2017
Altior Special Tiara San Benedeto
2016
Sprinter Sacre Un De Sceaux Dodging Bullets
2015
Special Tiara Sprinter Sacre Mr Mole
2014
Sire De Grugy Pepite Rose Special Tiara
2013
Sire De Grugy Finian's Rainbow Wishfull Thinking
2012
Sanctuaire Somersby Dan Breen
2011
French Opera Chaninbar Cornas
2010-2001
2010
I'm So Lucky Oiseau de Nuit Twist Magic
2009
Twist Magic Kalahari King Mahogany Blaze
2008
Andreas Lord Henry Fiepes Shuffle
2007
Dempsey Hoo La Baloo Tysou
2006
River City Nyrche Contraband
2005
Well Chief Azertyuiop Contraband
2004
Cenkos Impek Got One Too
2003
Seebald Cenkos Wahiba Sands
2002
Cenkos Flagship Uberalles Edredon Bleu
2001
Edredon Bleu Fadalko Desert Mountain
 

The Celebration Chase is a Grade One National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 1 mile 7½ furlongs (1 mile, 7 furlongs and 99 yards, or 3,108 metres), and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in late April.

01History

The event has its origins in 2001, when the Cheltenham Festival was cancelled due to a foot-and-mouth crisis. Replacements for some of the Festival's races were held at Sandown in late April, and the equivalent of the Queen Mother Champion Chase was a Grade 1 event called the Championship Chase.

The following year the race returned as the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase, in memory of the Queen Mother (1900-2002), who frequently attended racing at Sandown. The event was downgraded to Class B level, but it continued to attract high quality chasers. It was promoted to Grade Two status in 2005, and at this point its title was shortened to the Celebration Chase.

The race is currently sponsored by Bet365, and it takes place at a meeting which features both jump and flat races. Other events at this meeting include the Bet365 Gold Cup, the Gordon Richards Stakes and the Sandown Mile. The Celebration Chase was upgraded to Grade One by the British Horseracing Board from its 2014 running.

02Records

Most successful horse (3 wins):

Leading jockey (5 wins):

Leading trainer (7 wins):

  • Paul Nicholls, Cenkos (2002, 2004), Andreas (2008), Twist Magic (2009), Sanctuaire (2012), Greaneteen (2021,2022)
  • Nicky Henderson - French Opera (2011), Sprinter Sacre (2016), Altior (2017, 2018, 2019), Jonbon (2023, 2024)

03Winners

Watch videos about Celebration ChaseExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Celebration Chase, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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