The Golden Miller Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, is a Grade Two National Hunt limited handicap chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 4½ furlongs (2 miles 4 furlongs and 127 yards, or 4,139 metres), and during its running there are seventeen fences to be jumped. It is a race for novice chasers and it is scheduled to take place each year on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The race was initially sponsored by Jewson and was established in 2011 as a new Grade 2 race at the Festival. Jewson had sponsored a handicap race for novice chasers from 2005 to 2010, the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase, which was run on the third day of the Festival. Jewson transferred their sponsorship to this new race at the 2011 Festival which took the place of the Novices' Handicap Chase on the third day, while the handicap race was moved to become the final race on the opening day of the Festival and retitled the Centenary Novices' Handicap Chase. The Jewson Novices' Chase was upgraded to Grade One by the British Horseracing Board from its 2014 running. The race's registered unsponsored title is the Golden Miller Novices' Chase, although it has always been run under sponsored titles.
The race was sponsored by insurance brokers JLT from 2014 until 2019. The JLT group had already been associated with sponsorship of a festival race, having sponsored the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase since 2012. The race was renamed the Marsh Novices' Chase from the 2020 renewal following the merger of JLT and Marsh. The transport company Turners took over the sponsorship from the 2022 running.
After the 2024 running, it was announced that the Golden Miller would become a Grade 2 Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, remaining on the same day but moving to be the second race of the day. Turners moved its sponsorship to a different race and Jack Richards became the new sponsors from 2025.
Records Leading jockey (3 wins): Ruby Walsh – Vautour (2015), Black Hercules (2016), Yorkhill (2017)
Leading trainer (4 wins): Willie Mullins – Sir Des Champs (2012), Vautour (2015), Black Hercules (2016), Yorkhill (2017)
Winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer 2011 Noble Prince 7 Tony McCoy Paul Nolan 2012 Sir Des Champs 6 Davy Russell Willie Mullins 2013 Benefficient 7 Bryan Cooper Tony Martin 2014 Taquin du Seuil 7 Tony McCoy Jonjo O'Neill 2015 Vautour 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2016 Black Hercules 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2017 Yorkhill 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2018 Shattered Love 7 Jack Kennedy Gordon Elliott 2019 Defi du Seuil 6 Barry Geraghty Philip Hobbs 2020 Samcro 8 Davy Russell Gordon Elliott 2021 Chantry House 7 Nico de Boinville Nicky Henderson 2022 Bob Olinger 7 Rachael Blackmore Henry de Bromhead 2023 Stage Star 7 Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls 2024 Grey Dawning 7 Harry Skelton Dan Skelton 2025 Caldwell Potter 7 Harry Cobden Paul Nicholls 2026 Meetmebythesea 6 Ben Jones Ben Pauling
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races
References
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