Sun Alliance Chase
| Grade 1 race | |
| Location |
Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham, England |
|---|---|
| Race type | Chase |
| Sponsor | RSA Insurance Group |
| Website | Cheltenham |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 3m ½f (4,929 metres) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Five-years-old and up |
| Weight | 11 st 2 lb (5yo); 11 st 4 lb (6yo+) Allowances 7 lb for mares |
| Purse |
£150,000 (2014) 1st: £85,425 |
The RSA Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 110 yards (4,929 metres), and during its running there are nineteen fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The event was formerly known as the Broadway Novices' Chase, but since the mid-1960s it has been run under various sponsored titles. From 1964 to 1973 it was sponsored by the Tote, and it was called the Totalisator Champion Novices' Chase. Since then it has been backed by its present sponsor, RSA Insurance Group, and its predecessors Sun Alliance (1974–1996) and Royal & SunAlliance (1997–2008).
Several winners of the race have subsequently achieved victory in the most prestigious chase in the National Hunt calendar, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The most recent was Lord Windermere, the winner of the latter event in 2014.
Leading jockey since 1946 (5 wins):
Leading trainer since 1946 (4 wins):
1 The 1947 edition was abandoned due to snow and frost.
2 The 2001 running was cancelled because of a foot-and-mouth crisis.
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Wikipedia