Grand Annual Chase Odds 2026 | Live Betting

Live Odds

Grand Annual Chase 2026 — Odds Comparison

Compare the latest odds for the Grand Annual Chase. One of the Festival's most unique and historic races — updated regularly as Gold Cup Day on 13 March 2026 approaches.

Expert Opinions

What Experts Are Saying — Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase 2026

Leading racing analysts, journalists and tipsters share their views on the 16:40 Hunters' Chase on Gold Cup Day 2026.

Ruby Walsh

"I've been very impressed with Panda Boy. I've heard quite a bit about Wrappedupinmay too…"

Johnny Dineen

"If Its On The Line doesn't win, he'll place. He's a good each-way bet."

Sportingnews.com

Its On The Line will be one of the runners setting the standard for the field. If he can reproduce his peak performance and it doesn't turn too tactical, he should have a big say in the top places.

Race Overview

The Grand Annual Chase — Speed, Pace and Unique Character

The Grand Annual Chase is one of the most distinctive races in the entire Cheltenham Festival — a two-mile handicap chase with an unusually low weight ceiling that has been a feature of the Festival programme since 1834, making it one of the oldest races in Cheltenham's long history. Its unique characteristics create a race profile unlike any other on the Festival card.

Run over one mile, seven furlongs and 199 yards on the Old Course — essentially a fast, two-mile circuit incorporating 12 fences — the Grand Annual is contested by compact, quick, lightly-weighted chasers who race at a pace that often exceeds the more prestigious championship races. The low weight limit means the race attracts horses who are particularly well-handicapped and who have been campaigned with the specific aim of arriving at the Festival with a relatively light burden.

The Grand Annual is one of the Festival's best value betting races precisely because its unique profile creates a situation where horses are less well known to the general betting public than those in the championship races. The combination of lightly-raced horses, a fast pace and a competitive field means that thorough form study can identify real value that the market overlooks in the week's excitement over the bigger championship events.

Two-mile chasing form at the highest handicap level is the key qualifier for the Grand Annual. Horses who have run well in the Grade 3 two-mile handicap chases during the season — particularly those at Cheltenham, Sandown or Ascot — bring directly relevant form, and course winners at Cheltenham on the Old Course are always worth special consideration.

Chasers racing at full gallop in a competitive two-mile handicap chase at Cheltenham

🏆 CheltenhamBet Expert Tips — Grand Annual Chase 2026

Course form is gold dust: In the Grand Annual Chase, previous wins over the Old Course's two-mile trip are the single most valuable piece of form information. The unique nature of the track — the camber, the fences, the sharp turns and the final hill — gives horses with course experience a significant advantage over rivals who are encountering it for the first time under race conditions.
Target lightly-weighted, progressive horses: The Grand Annual's low weight limit creates a field of horses who carry similar burdens, but those who are lightly weighted relative to their actual ability — horses whose handicap mark hasn't fully caught up with their recent improvement — are ideally placed to deliver big-priced wins.
Two-mile chasing speed is essential: The Grand Annual is run at a pace that tests the jumping technique of every horse in the field. Horses who jump boldly and fluently — taking their hurdles with minimal reduction in speed — maintain their momentum up the Cheltenham hill in a way that those with more cautious jumping styles cannot match.
Each-way bets at 10/1 or bigger: The Grand Annual is an outstanding each-way betting race. With typically 15–20 runners and multiple places paid, any horse at 10/1 or bigger who has the right profile — course form, lightly weighted, sharp jumping — can deliver excellent each-way returns even without winning outright.
The British-Irish balance: Unlike some Festival handicaps where Irish-trained runners dominate, the Grand Annual has a more balanced record with British-trained two-mile chasers. Horses from the Henderson, Nicholls and Skelton yards who have been pointed at this race from earlier in the season are well worth considering alongside the Irish contenders.

Race 5: Foxhunter Chase Gold Cup Day Race 6 of 7 Race 7: Martin Pipe Hurdle