The Ryanair Chase is one of the feature Grade Ones on the third day of the Cheltenham festival and we have some key stats that can help you when trying to pick your winner.
It has been a very difficult race to call over the last few years but hopefully with these stats you can eliminate some horses but also acquire some decent knowledge on some big priced runners.
Of the last 12 winners of the contest, at some point in there career they had raced at Cheltenham prior to the festival and with that 10 of the last 12 were course winners.
Many of the horses in the Ryanair field have ran at Cheltenham both at the festival and in the run up to the meeting but at the moment in this seasons betting there are two high profile animals that have yet to run at Prestbury Park.
The Paul Nicholls trained Cyrname is 12/1 to currently land the spoils at Cheltenham but has never ran at the track before which does not fair well in this race.
He dethroned Altior and ran well in the King George to stay on for second but going round a left handed track could find him out if he turns up.
One of the less likely runners in the contest is Chacun Pour Soi who is another challenger yet to run at Cheltenham but it looks like he will go to the Champion Chase.
None of the last 12 winners of the Grade One had raced more than four times in the season in the run up to the event, meaning the fresher the horse the better.
There are fair few horses that are on the edge with four runs already this season which should not be a problem but the big outsider Yorkhill was campaigned throughout the summer as well as the winter and has ran five times which won't help him in this one.
In 10 of the last 12 renewals of the contest the winners of the race had previously won a Grade One over fences with the two anomalies coming in the last two years.
This plays to the strengths to the favourites at the top of the market with Defi Du Seuil, Min and A Plus Tard all landing a Grade One over fences this year.
It makes the horses teetering on the edge of the betting slightly vulnerable with Willie Mullins' team of Cilaos Emery, Real Steel and Cadmium yet to land a black type over fences.
11 of the last 12 winners had acquired a rating of 161 or more when going on to land the race meaning the credentials of the horse have to be looked at.
This stat does not rule out many of the horses set to enter this contest with the Ryanair looking like one of the best races at the festival this season with around 10+ horses going to be rated 161+ before the off.
The final stat for this event is that five of the last six winners of the Ryanair Chase were aged either seven or eight years old.
This could be a problem for many horses as the likes of favourite Min being nine years of age and Henry De Bromhead's A Plus Tard being at the other end of the spectrum of six years old.
The veteran Un De Sceaux could contest this contest once more having won it in 2017 but at the age of 12 has it all do and the odds suggest that at 16/1.
As we have said before this Grade One could be one of the stand out race of the festival if all horses that are supposed to be entered turn up.
The runners at the top of the market like Min, A Plus Tard and Frodon all look to be a solid bet and most likely to end up in this contest but at a bigger price Footpad although being underwhelming this season fits the bill for many of the stats on show.
He is currently eight years old and has already won at the Cheltenham festival which is a massive bonus, plus his last five runs have come off a mark of 165 which fits strongly with the form.
At 16/1 he could feature in the top three if getting back to his best.
