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The Arkle Chase is one of the headline acts of the Cheltenham Festival and the 2023 iteration of the event promises to be a thriller with several horses capable of winning the race. Nicky Henderson has been the most successful trainer in Arkle history and he returns with one of the best horses in the field in the form of Jonbon.

However, Willie Mullins will be out for glory too in a bid to end his drought in the race, while Gordon Elliott and Joseph O’Brien could have horses that could claim the Arkle crown. Here we look at which horse has the strongest credentials to triumph in the second race of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.

Jonbon

Jonbon was defeated by his stable-mate Constitution Hill at Cheltenham last season in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. However, his conversion to a chaser has brought out the best in Jonbon and he is the prime contender as of 12th December in the odds for betting on horse racing at 6/5 to win the Arkle Chase. Henderson’s charge could not cope with Constitution Hill on the day but bounced back at the end of the campaign at Aintree to win the Betway Top Novices’ Hurdle by a neck against El Fabiolo, an encouraging omen for the future for the French thoroughbred.

Henderson and owner John P McManus agreed to change the horse to a chaser for the 2022/23 campaign, and Jonbon responded well with a brilliant performance in the Highflyer Bloodstock Novices’ Chase. He dominated the field to win by seven lengths ahead of his nearest rival Monmiral to set him up nicely for the term. The standard of competition was elevated in December 2022 at the Close Brothers Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, but Jonbon was on point with another excellent display to beat a good horse, Boothill, by a comfortable margin. He looks to be the one to beat at Cheltenham and it will take a very good competitor to beat him out for the crown.

El Fabiolo

El Fabiolo has yet to race as a chaser, which could leave him vulnerable to the experience of Jonbon at the Arkle. He already has a losing record against Henderson’s charge over hurdles after suffering a narrow defeat at Aintree in April. El Fabiolo has all the attributes to make the transition to become a chaser, but the proof will come when he takes to the track. In his other two races over hurdles in the United Kingdom, he was a winner. After making the move to Mullins’ yard in November 2021, he made his bow for his new trainer at Tramore in the David Flynn Construction Maiden Hurdle.

Jonbon just about holds off El Fabiolo to win the Betway Top Novices’ Hurdle

He was given a real challenge by the second favourite#ITVRacing | #GrandNational pic.twitter.com/NRHiCs77Bk

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) April 8, 2022

El Fabiolo was excellent as he cruised to a dominant victory to set up him for a run at Aintree. The Aintree experience was almost perfect, but Jonbon had the pace when it mattered the most to edge him out by a neck. El Fabiolo capped off his campaign with another fine run in the SalesSense International Novice Hurdle at Punchestown to make it two victories out of three under Mullins. If he can sustain that form it will be a fascinating duel between the two horses at Cheltenham and you can check his progress by following the latest horse racing news.

Other Contenders

There are other horses in the field that could cause a stir. The Mighty Potter out of Elliott’s yard could be in line for a charge at glory should the trainer elect to place him in the Arkle. He won the Drinmore Novice Chase to beat out Gaillard Du Mesnil by four lengths, having previously triumphed at the Down Royal Beginners Chase. Those are two quality victories that will stand Elliott and his charge in great stead for a run at the Arkle, although Elliott has never won the race before which could be a weakness against Henderson and Mullins-trained competitors.

Joseph O’Brien also has the same issue with his charge Banbridge as he attempts to break the status quo in the Arkle. However, Banbridge does have a victory at Cheltenham under his name already this season in the dress rehearsal for the Arkle, the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase. He won the event by six lengths to set him up for a run against The Mighty Potter in the Drinmore Novice Chase, only to place in third. He would need a stark improvement to challenge for the headline event.

Jonbon looks to be the horse with the best chances, but it will not be straightforward for Henderson and his charge amid the quality of the field.

Whether flat or jumps, horse racing is beloved in the UK and features some of the most-viewed events from the worldwide racing calendar.

As we reach the end of 2022 and the start of the New Year, let’s take a closer look at the major UK events that will take place in December and close out an incredible year of horse racing.

Christmas Raceday at Exeter

• Day: Thursday December 15^th, 2022

• Where: Exeter Racecourse, Devon, England

• Tickets for this event can be found online (Price TBA)

Ten days before the big man climbs down our chimneys, grab a glass of mulled wine and a mince while watching some of the UK’s top thoroughbred horses compete in the Devonshire Heartland.

This single-day event highlights the festive season with an excellent schedule of races running in unison with various forms of entertainment. Wrap up warm and arrive at Haldon Hill for one of the final major events of the pony calendar that’s guaranteed to deliver a packed day of top-tier racing.

On the track, spectators will likely see the usual seven races, including a Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and another Novices’ Hurdle, as well as a Handicap Hurdle, Chase races, and an event for amateur jockeys.

Avid horse bettors should, however, when making their selections for the Mares’ Novices’ Chase, which is run over 2m1½f. Betting sites in the UK often provide tempting odds as this race has previously been a hot spot for underrated mares who’ve gone on to obtain successful careers.

Ladbrokes Christmas Festival 2022

• Days: Monday & Tuesday, December 26-27^th, 2022

• Where: Kempton Park Racecourse, Surrey, England

• Featured Races: King George VI Steeplechase, Mare’s Handicap Hurdle Race, Wayward Lad Novices’ Steeple Chase, The Desert Orchid Chase

• Tickets for this event can be found online from £15 and up

With twelve elite-level races lined up, the two-day Ladbrokes Christmas Festival at the legendary Kempton Park Racecourse is the perfect event to assist in closing out the UK’s horse racing calendar year.

Boasting some of the most crucial races of the Jump schedule, such as the Grade 1 Boxing Day showpiece, the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle, and the Grade 2 Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase, it’s easy to see why horse enthusiasts love to celebrate their Boxing Day festivities with some racing goodness.

Last year’s Kempton Park X-Mas festival saw Tornado Flyer create history when he became the most significant betting underdog in the history of the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase. With lucrative odds of 28/1, Tornado Flyer beat the previous opening price record of 25/1 that had long stood in the history books by Nupsala since 1987. Irish Jump training champion, Willie Mullins, collected the second King George victory of his career twenty years following his Florida Pearl success in 2002.

2022 Coral Welsh Grand National

• Day: Tuesday December 27^th, 2022

• Where: Chepstow Racecourse, Chepstow, England

• Featured races (jump): Welsh National, Finale Junior Hurdle, Championship Bumper

While it isn’t quite elaborate and celebrated like the United Kingdom’s summer Grand National, this is still the biggest race day of the year in Wales, as the £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National takes center stage on Boxing Day in Chepstow each year.

Since 1949 the Welsh Grand National has raced in Chepstow. The Three and three-quarter-mile track owes its reputation as a major event to Coral bookmakers, who’ve heavily assisted in making this event a prestigious one in the National Hunt calendar.

Within his 3500+ winners over a career that saw him win Champion Jockey 4 times and runner up 17 times, @dickyjohnson77 won the #CoralWelshGrandNational twice.

Firstly on Edmund in 1999, and famously in 2016 on Native River, who went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2018. pic.twitter.com/dwRKvbqI9S

— Chepstow Racecourse (@Chepstow_Racing) December 10, 2022

Trainer Sam Thomas won his first-ever Welsh Grand National in 2021. Thomas ran Iwilldoit, jockeyed by Stan Sheppard, as they lifted the first Coral trophy post-pandemic. However, this isn’t the only recent history that stands out from Chepstow Racecourse.

Native River won the race in 2016, followed by another notable win at the Magners Gold Cup two years later in 2018. The following year, 16-year-old James Bowen made history as the youngest jockey to win the race. In 2018, Elegant Escape won the Coral Welsh Grand National, and in 2019 it was Potters Corner that took the spotlight after becoming the first Welsh-trained horse to lift the title since 1973.

The Christmas Hurdle, currently sponsored by Ladbrokes, is a Grade 1 contest open to horses aged foru years and upwards and run over 2 miles at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. The race was first run, in its current guise, in 1969 and, alongside the King George VI Chase, which is run on the same day, is firmly established as a festive highlight at the Sunbury-on-Thames course. Indeed, the Christmas Hurdle is one of the most significant races of the season and along with the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle and the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham forms the so-called ‘Triple Crown of Hurdling’.

A total of eight horses have won the Christmas Hurdle twice, including Kribensis, Binocular, Faugheen and Epatante, all of whom also won the Champion Hurdle. Nicky Henderson, trainer of Binocular (2010, 2011) and Epatante (2019, 2021), is far and away the most successful trainer in the history of the Christmas Hurdle, having also saddled Geos (2000), Landing Light (2001), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013), Buveur D’Air (2017) and Verdana Blue (2018) for a total of 10 wins in all.

The 2022 renewal of the Christmas Hurdle is scheduled, as usual, at 2.25pm on Monday, December 26, as part of a six-race card on the first day of the Ladbrokes Christmas Festival. As of early September, several months ahead of time, no ante-post prices for the Christmas Hurdle are available. However, it is reasonable to expect that the Nicky Henderson will hold a formidable hand. His facile Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner, Constitution Hill, for example, is a prohibitive 1/3 in the ante-post lists for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle the previous month, with Epatante installed as 5/1 second favourite for that race. In the absence of the indomitable Honeysuckle, another win for the Master of Seven Barrows looks a distinct possibility.

The Denman Chase is a Grade 2 steeplechase run over 2 miles, 7 furlongs and 86 yards at Newbury in February. Open to horses aged five years and upwards, the race was inaugurated, as the Aon Chase, in 2000. Originally a Class 2 contest, it was promoted to Listed status in 2002 and again, to Grade 2 status, a year later. Since 2012, the race has borne the name of Denman, who won the race in 2008 en route to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The Denman Chase is currently scheduled for so-called Betfair Super Saturday, which is staged five weeks or so prior to the Cheltenham Festival and, as such, is considered a leading trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Denman aside, Kauto Star (2007), Coneygree (2015) and Native River (2018) all won both races in the same season. Indeed, Native River, who won the Denman Chase three times, in 2017, 2018 and 2020, is the most successful horse in the history of the race.

Paul Nicholls, who saddled Kauto Star and Denman, was also responsible for See More Business (2000), Shotgun Willy (2001), Valley Henry (2003), Tricky Trickster (2010), Noland (2011), Silvianaco Conti (2013), Clan Des Obeaux (2019) and Secret Investor (2021). The Master of Manor Farm is, far and away, the most successful trainer in the history of the Denman Chase with ten winners in all.

At the time of writing, February 10, 2023 is still several months away but, nearer the time, any bona fide contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup – especially one trained by Paul Nicholls – would merit serious consideration in the Denman Chase. Bravemansgame, about whom Nicholls has expressed stamina doubts over the 3 miles, 2 furlongs and 70 yards distance of the Gold Cup, could prove an ideal candidate in due course.