2026 Betfair Handicap Chase Betting Tips

Cheltenham Racecourse hosts the most prestigious meeting on New Year's Day and we're excited to see how the Betfair Handicap Chase pans out. Herakles Westwood produced a very smart performance at the same course in November. He finished second in a field of sixteen, with the 13/2 shot travelling well in a handicap encounter on heavy ground. He also ran relatively well at Cheltenham in December.

However, there are lots of viable contenders and that includes Does He Know. Much depends on whether he can cope with a heavy weight allowance, with the eleven-year-old having enjoyed a convincing win at Haydock when a seventeen-length success was achieved. Beating 6/4 favourite Dunboyne by such a convincing margin was a great effort.

Katate Dori was able to win well at Kempton Park back in February but hasn't logged a victory in any of the subsequent efforts. There was a relatively solid showing at Newbury at the end of November when achieving a sixth-placed finish out of twenty-four. That came after a last-placed effort at Aintree in a competitive encounter.

Excello and Jasmine De Grugy come next in the betting. The former runs for Nicky Henderson and finished tenth out of thirteen runners over the Grand National fences at Aintree. Perhaps the latter is better value, with the horse carrying much less weight and the runner might come on from his seasonal debut at Newcastle.

2025 Betfair Handicap Chase Tips

Broadway Boy has a strong chance of landing a victory in the Betfair Handicap Chase and the seven-year-old has been performing well this season. At Cheltenham in October, there was a third-placed finish out of fourteen and this was followed by a runner-up spot at Newbury. It seems as though the contender has the best chance out of the field to win this one.

The latest effort came in the Coral Gold Cup Handicap Chase where the runner was less than two lengths off the pace, with Our Power potentially the one that could challenge for top honours. Sam Thomas saddles a ten-year-old who was second on his seasonal debut this term, with this coming at Cheltenham in mid-December.

The horse truly outran his odds of 20/1 where the runner was only three lengths behind King Turgeon and the charge was able to get the better of favourite Chianti Classico. He will have a weight advantage over the favourite in this encounter, while Cloudy Glen has solid credentials considering there was a victory last time out.

Venetia Williams saw her twelve-year-old land the spoils in the previous encounter and it was an impressive showing at Haydock Park where the runner was able to score by seven and a half lengths. This came after the horse was pulled up at the Cheltenham Festival and some will regard this as a strong each-way selection.