2026 Champion Chase Stats That Matter – DS

by Dave Stevos | Feb 16, 2026

2026 Champion Chase Stats That Matter

Another week has passed and it is now just 21 days until the action begins at Cheltenham. Dave Stevos has already used statistics to narrow the 2026 Gold Cup field, his 2026 Champion Chase stats that matter preview is below.

Age

Since this race was first run all the way back in 1959, only four winners were aged younger than seven. Masterminded was responsible for two of those, winning as a 5yo in 2008 and as a 6yo the following year.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the oldest horse to win this race was Skymas, who won as an 11yo in 1976 and as a 12yo in 1977. The great Moscow Flyer won as an 11yo too but the vast majority of winners have been aged 7yo (9), 8yo (23), 9yo (16) and 10yo (11).

Amazingly, there are no 7yos in this year’s renewal but we do have a 6yo and that is none other than Majborough. The ante-post favourite falls at the first fence, as does the 2024 Champion Chase winner, the 11yo Captain Guinness. Two down, sixteen to go.

Cut: Majborough; Captain Guinness.

Grade 1 Winning Form

One common theme amongst previous Champion Chase winners is that they almost always have previous experience of winning at Grade 1 level. In fact, 11 of the last 12 winners had won at least one Grade 1 before landing the big one. This statistic allows us to narrow the field considerably.

That means it’s the end of the line for the outsiders Brookie, Saint Segal, Only By Night, Senecia, Calico and Libberty Hunter. The 16/1 shot Thistle Ask has yet to score at the top table so we have to put a line through him and our Arkle fancy Irish Panther is another casualty. Next up, course form.

Cut: Brookie; Calico; Irish Panther; JPR One; Libberty Hunter; Only By Night; Saint Segal; Senecia; Thistle Ask.

Course Form

The final statistic we will use to narrow the 2026 Champion Chase field is previous course form. Since the turn of the century, all but three winners had run at Cheltenham before and the vast majority had either won or been placed at the track. So, we’ll be counting out horses that have had at least one chase run here and failed to either win or place.

Unfortunately, that is bad news for our ante-post selection Solness. However, in his defence, when he ran fourth in this last year he had been on the go since the Galway Festival the previous August so I am hoping that was the reason for his below par run and not the track.

Quilixios won the 2021 Triumph Hurdle here but he has posted form figures of 8F in his two previous chase runs at Cheltenham so we also have to wave goodbye to him at this stage.

Cut: Solness; Quilixios.

The Final Five

Five horses are still standing, including the second favourite Marine Nationale. He was usurped at the top of the market by Majborough after their one-sided meeting at Leopardstown’s DRF but the ground was far too soft for Barry Connell’s stable star that day and I can see him gaining revenge once it comes up good to soft or quicker in March.

Jonbon also makes it through to the final stage but he won the 2m5f Ascot Chase on Saturday so surely, he’ll be aimed at the Ryanair now. Il Etait Temps just scraped through on the back of his third in the Arkle last year but he was beaten over 13l that day and he has yet to produce his brilliant best at this venue.

C&D Form

L’Eau Du Sud announced himself as a realistic contender for this race when beating Jonbon by 15l in the Shloer here in November. He was bang there when finishing a close fourth in the Arkle last year (0.75l behind Majborough) and his other two C&D runs have resulted in victory. It would be no surprise to see him bounce back from a mediocre performance in the Tingle Creek and run a big race here.

Last, but not least, we have Found A Fifty. He’s the longest priced survivor at 25/1 and he beat Majborough at Cork three starts ago. However, I expected him to run a big race on his favoured testing ground at the DRF and he came up short.

That being said, he did run well when runner up behind Gaelic Warrior in the 2024 Arkle and he had Il Etait Temps well behind him in third that day. It is admittedly hard to see him winning a Champion Chase but this race is likely to cut up considerably and if it does, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise were he to sneak into the first three.

2026 Champion Chase Stats That Matter – DS