Race 5 · St. Patrick's Thursday · Thursday, 12 March 2026 · ~4:10pm
Paddy Power Plate Handicap Chase
Live betting odds for one of the most competitive handicap chases of the Festival — 2m 4f 127y · Grade 3 · Old Course
Live betting odds for one of the most competitive handicap chases of the Festival — 2m 4f 127y · Grade 3 · Old Course
Compare the latest odds for the Paddy Power Plate Handicap Chase. Updated as St. Patrick's Thursday on 12 March 2026 approaches.
Leading racing analysts, journalists and tipsters share their views on the Grade 1 two-and-a-half-mile chase on St. Patrick's Thursday 2026.
Ruby Walsh
"Fact To File or Gaelic Warrior — whichever one of the two runs here will be way shorter than 4/7."
Tony Mullins
"They've danced Fact To File up and down in distances. This horse's head is wrecked."
Johnny Dineen
"I think Banbridge has a bit of a chance if he turns up here, especially on better ground."
Sportingnews.com
Gaelic Warrior: "With versatility and tactical nous, Cheltenham form already in the book and having won the Arkle in 2024. If jumping holds up under pressure, he will be right in play up until the line."
Racing Post
Paul Healy tips both Matata and Banbridge; Tom Segal prefers Romeo Coolio.
TalkSPORT — Tom Lunn
Fact To File won this race last year by nine lengths as 6/4 favourite. "He's bounced back to form at the perfect time and comes up against horses less established. He might even shorten from his current price."
The Paddy Power Plate Handicap Chase is one of the most popular betting races of St. Patrick's Thursday — a two-and-a-half mile handicap over the Old Course that regularly attracts a large, competitive field and provides outstanding each-way betting opportunities.
The race is run over two miles, four furlongs and one hundred and twenty-seven yards, providing a test that is longer than the Queen Mother Champion Chase distance and shorter than the Ryanair Chase. This intermediate trip attracts a diverse range of handicap chasers — those who are slightly too slow for the top two-milers but who lack the stamina to be genuine three-mile performers.
As a Grade 3 handicap, the Plate provides opportunities for horses from across the ability spectrum to compete on theoretically level terms. In practice, identifying the horse whose current handicap mark underestimates their true ability — perhaps because of a poor recent run on unsuitable ground or with an inexperienced jockey — is the key to finding a winner at a profitable price.
The Plate has produced winners at a wide range of prices, including some memorable betting coups at double-figure odds. The combination of a large field, a competitive handicap mark spread and the demanding Cheltenham test means that the market frequently misprices individual runners, creating genuine each-way value for the informed punter.
