With a small field in the Relkeel Hurdle, the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase is the big betting race over fences on New Year’s Day at Cheltenham. This Premier Handicap is the latest in a series of such events over the extended two-and-a-half miles taking place around Prestbury Park throughout the core National Hunt season.
Framing the weights will be either the veteran Jungle Boogie, who turns 12 and makes his debut for Venetia Williams, or the locally-trained Matata for the Twiston-Davies team. Despite his advanced years, the former is an incredibly lightly-raced horse for age. Jungle Boogie has only had eight career starts and finished sixth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 2024.
Matata, meanwhile, is now below his last winning mark. That victory came at Windsor last January where he blew apart the field in the Great Park Handicap Chase during the Berkshire Winter Million. As a keen-going type, the extra distance of the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase may not suit Matata.
Paul Nicholls won this race way back in 2005 with Le Duc, and runs two this year. Twinjets arrives seeking his hat-trick following wins around Fontwell Park and Newbury. Off a career high mark, and with little experience of Cheltenham races, he may find this tougher. Il Ridoto, meanwhile, is a standing dish from Ditcheat for events like these.
The handicapper relents a little on him following eighth and seventh places in the Paddy Power Gold and December Gold Cup, respectively. With Il Ridoto dropped to a mark of 139, and 7lb claimer Freddie Keighley booked for the ride, he looks well-treated on the pick of his form around here. All three career steeplechasing wins have been at this venue.
Glengouly, Riskintheground Other Course Winners of Interest
Three other horses besides Il Ridoto have course and distance wins under their belt, and an entry here. Of those, Glengouly bids to follow-up on December Gold Cup glory from out of the weights in the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase. He made all under Sean Bowen for the Faye Bramley stable and is only effectively 3lb higher.
Glengouly captures the Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup pic.twitter.com/5PK1Kqmk1x
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) December 13, 2025
Glengouly gets in with a lovely racing weight of just 10st 3lb if Jungle Boogie does indeed frame the handicap. If not, then it’s 10st 5lb with Matata heading the weights. Either way, it still looks attractive for the ex-Willie Mullins horse. With Bowen again down to ride, many of the leading Cheltenham betting sites feel Glengouly can go in again.
That suggests the participation of Olly Murphy’s Booster Bob, ante-post favourite here, is in doubt. Bowen is stable jockey there, so the dual Newbury winner may have something else in mind over the winter. Silver Trophy winner Riskintheground needs a sound surface to race on, but the relatively dry forecast for this time of year is encouraging.
Dan Skelton has landed the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase twice in the last five seasons. While Riskintheground didn’t see out the Coral Gold Cup trip of three-and-a-quarter miles, this course and distance is fine for him. His April Meeting success came off 8lb lower, but he confirmed that form with runner-up O’Moore Park at Newbury.
A great ride from Harry Skelton secures the win for Riskintheground@harryskelton89 | @DSkeltonRacing pic.twitter.com/qoVb0Ge0yu
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) April 16, 2025
John McConnell could send Moon d’Orange over from Ireland for this after landing the Festival Trials Day equivalent of this last January. He just did enough to fend of Alan King’s Grandeur d’Ame by a short-head then, but the revised weights from that Cheltenham result have the second on some 6lb better terms now.
Just Over Land Likely Well out of the Weights
It gives Grandeur d’Ame every chance of reversing form with Moon d’Orange. Neither of those horses appear to be in the same form as last January, though, so they may be best avoided in the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase this time. Gordon Elliott gave an entry to Dee Capo, but he ran at Limerick during their Christmas Racing Festival.
He also unseated his jockey at the final fence and, after such a hard race on heavy ground some 96 hours or so before this one, it’s highly unlikely that we see him come over from Ireland. Smart target trainer Sam Thomas faces a quandary over bottom weight Just Over Land. He too arrives on a hat-trick, but faces the unappealing prospect of being 10lb out of the handicap.
Thomas offsets 7lb of that disadvantage by booking 7lb claimer Benjamin Macey for the ride. If none of the top three on the Cheltenham race card run, then Just Over Land would only be 2lb “wrong” with his official rating of 120. Consecutive victories under amateur jockey Harvey Barfoot-Saunt at a much lower level have already resulted in a 10lb rise from the assessor.
Just Over Land travelled strongly around local track Chepstow last time, but these are hardly favourable terms upped in class. There’s no doubting that this contest isn’t as strong as the last one of its type at Cheltenham or the Paddy Power, nor is it as valuable a race as either, but there’s still £100,000 in prize money up for grabs on New Year’s Day.
Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase 2026 Shortlist & Verdict
It’s hard to look past GLENGOULY after that fine positive ride from Bowen here in December. A break of 19 days is on the short side, but it’s not unusual in relation to this contest for the winner to have last run within the previous three weeks. Bramley is a capable trainer and Glengouly just looks so well-weighted in his bid to follow-up.
Elsewhere, Riskintheground will appreciate the return to a sounder surface. The better the ground, then the better his chance as Skelton looks to use this and the Relkeel Hurdle also on the card to strengthen his grip on the National Hunt Trainers Championship. With extra weight claimed off his back, Il Ridoto could stage a revival again on good going.
