Last Ran: 16th March 2010

The William Hill Trophy Handicap Chase is run at Cheltenham racecourse on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.

It is the first handicap race of the meeting and has a race distance of three miles half a furlong, open to horses of five years and upwards and like all the Cheltenham races is a hot betting event.

Often contested by a large field, it has proved to be very competitive over the years with stamina playing a huge part in deciding the winner.

The race is often set at a fast gallop and it takes a special sort to be able to do the trip here and not suprisingly a lot of the contenders use this race as a stepping stone to the Grand National at Aintree.

The favourite have a poor record at winning here, also watch for the weights, look for horses carrying less than 11stone.

Key Trends for the William Hill Trophy

• Only two favourites have won this race since 1977
• No winner has carried over 11 stones for a decade
• No horse over the age of eleven has gone on to win here since 1997

• Queen Mother Champion Chase (17th March 2010)
• Champion Bumper (17th March 2010)
• Cheltenham Novices Hurdle (17th March 2010)
• Royal Sun Alliance Chase (17th March 2010)
• Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle (17th March 2010)