Ultima Handicap Chase Tips 2023
This Ultima Handicap Chase preview for the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival 2022 will look at the leading players in the field. The list of runners generally presents punters with a wide-open field to look through.
This year’s renewal for Ultima Handicap Tips doesn’t look any different, and for some, it’s a toss-up between appearing here or at the following month’s Grand National.
Ultima Handicap Chase Potential Runners & Favourites
The Ultima Handicap is a big stamina test as it creeps above the 3m mark. It’s often an unpredictable race, and with so many testing jumps for the Ultima Handicap runners to face, it can lead to some longer-priced winners, like last year’s shock 28/1 victor Vintage Clouds.
DOES HE KNOW is the current leader in Ultima Handicap betting, and with rival Shan Blue going to the Ryanair, his claims are further bolstered. Does He Know claimed a Grade 2 novices chase win in February to warm-up for this one.
He was involved in last year’s Ballymore but finished well down the pecking order. But since then, he’s found his footing in this sphere and has also claimed a win at Cheltenham.
DEATH DUTY was an impressive winner of a Grade 3 Chase at Punchestown last month, beating some quality horses in comfortable fashion. That result alone means he warrants respect in Ultima Handicap betting tips.
NOBLE YEATS is another who looks set to have a good chance in this. His runner-up performance in the Grade 2 Towton Novices’ Chase puts him firmly in the mix here. He’ll be looking to give trainer Emmet Mullins a first winner in the race.
As for some each-way consideration in Ultima Handicap Chase 2022 tips, FRODON and CORACH RAMBLER are certainly of interest. The former drops down into Grade 3 company for the first time this season, while Corach Rambler just needs a bit of a revival, as he was in winning form earlier in the season.
Ultima Handicap Chase Confirmed Runners
| Horse | Silks | Trainer/Jockey | Odds |
| Does He Know |  | J: David Bass T: Kim Bailey | 8/1 |
| Floueur |  | J: Jordan Gainford T: Gordon Elliott | 8/1 |
| Noble Yeats |  | J: Sam Waley-Cohen T: Emmet Mullins | 10/1 |
| Death Duty |  | J: Jack Kennedy T: Gordon Elliott | 11/1 |
| Corach Rambler |  | J: Derek Fox T: Lucinda Russell | 11/1 |
| Fantastikas |  | J: Sam Twiston-Davies T: Nigel Twiston-Davies | 12/1 |
| Gericault Roque |  | J: Tom Scudamore T:David Pipe | 12/1 |
| Frodon |  | J: Bryony Frost T: Paul Nicholls | 12/1 |
| Full Back |  | J: Joshua Moore T: Gary Moore | 14/1 |
| Our Power |  | J: Charlie Deutsch T: Sam Thomas | 14/1 |
| Tea Clipper |  | J: Stan Sheppard T: Tom Lacey | 16/1 |
| Oscar Elite |  | J: Harry Cobden T: Colin Tizzard | 16/1 |
| Ben Dundee |  | J: Danny Mullins T: Andrew Lynch | 18/1 |
| Discordantly |  | J: Robbie Power T: John Harrington | 20/1 |
| Lostintranslation |  | J:Brendan Powell T: Colin Tizzard | 20/1 |
| Kiltealy Briggs |  | J: A P Heskin T: Jamie Snowden | 22/1 |
| Vintage Clouds |  | J: Sean Quinlan T: Sue Smith | 25/1 |
| Grumpy Charley |  | J: Bryan Carver T: Chris Honour | 28/1 |
| Foxy Jacks |  | J: Jonathan Moore T: Mouse Morris | 28/1 |
| Rapper |  | J: Tom O’Brien T: Henry Daly | 33/1 |
| Doctor Duffy |  | J: Liam Quinlan T: Charles Byrnes | 33/1 |
| Belargus |  | J: Niall Houlihan T: Nick Gifford | 50/1 |
| Run To Milan |  | J: Alan Johns T: Victor Dartnall | 50/1 |
| One More Fleurie |  | J: Charlie Todd T: Ian Williams | 50/1 |
| Pontresina (RESERVE) |  | J: Ben Godfrey T: Ben Lund | 50/1 |
*Odds Correct as of 11am 14/03/22*
How Often Does a Favourite Horse Win The Ultima Handicap Chase Race?
Favourites in Ultima Handicap betting haven’t had the greatest of time in things in the last 10 renewals of this Cheltenham Day 1 race. There has been just the one winning favourite crop up in that span, Coo Star Sivola, in 2018.
Two of the last nine Ultima Handicap Chase winners have come home first at a quote of 28/1, with Golden Chieftain in 2013 and then Vintage Clouds last year defying the massive odds in the fixture. So that suggests for the 2022 Festival Handicap Chase tips, it is worth looking at some longer-priced options for the shortlist too.
Ultima Handicap Chase Favourites vs Winners in The Past 10 Years
| Year | Favourite Horse* | Winning Horse |
| 2021 | Happygolucky (2nd) | Vintage Clouds (28/1) |
| 2020 | Discorama (3rd) / Vinndication (4th) | The Conditional (15/2) |
| 2019 | Up For Review (8th) / Coo Star Sivola (PU) / Mister Whitaker (PU) | Beware The Bear (10/1) |
| 2018 | Coo Star Sivola | Coo Star Sivola (5/1) |
| 2017 | Singlefarmpayment (2nd) | Un Temps Pour Tout (9/1) |
| 2016 | Out Sam (7th) | Un Temps Pour Tout (11/1) |
| 2015 | Ned Stark (8th) | The Druids Nephew (8/1) |
| 2014 | Alfie Sherrin (8th) | Holywell (10/1) |
| 2013 | Our Mick (2nd) | Golden Chieftain (28/1) |
| 2012 | Quantativeeasing (7th) / Hold On Julio (10th) | Alfie Sherrin (14/1) |
*(-) = Finishing Position, UR = Unseated Rider, F = Faller, RO = Ran Out, PU = Pulled Up
Ultima Handicap Chase History & Present Time
This race is officially the Festival Handicap Chase but is known as the Ultima because of sponsorship. This is a Grade 3 feature of the Day 1 Cheltenham card, and it is run over a distance of 3m 1f on the Old Course, with twenty fences to be jumped.
The race is open to five-year-olds and above under handicap terms. The first edition of the race was in 1946 when it was under the guise of the National Hunt Handicap Chase. The 2022 Ultima Handicap has a prize purse of £125,000.
Ultima Handicap Chase Jockey & Trainer Records
The leading jockeys in the Festival Handicap Chase are Robert Thornton and Tom Scudamore, with three wins each. The latter scored back-to-back wins on Un Temps Pour Tout in 2016 and 2017. No horse has won the Ultima more than twice.
As for the trainer landscape for the race, only two have managed to win the fixture on four occasions, and those were Fred Rimell and Fulke Walwyn, who both achieved the feat well before the turn of this century. Jonjo O’Neill and David Pipe have won it three times each in the last twenty renewals.