The Down Royal Champion Chase is the first Grade 1 of the Irish jumps season, and the 2026 running is on Saturday 31 October. It is a three-mile chase run at level weights, so it is often the first time we see the top Irish staying chasers against each other after the summer. Here is how the race works, why it now carries Envoi Allen’s name and what it can and cannot tell you about the months ahead. There are more explainers like this in our racing guides section.
When is the Down Royal Champion Chase in 2026?
The race is due off at 3.15pm on Saturday 31 October and is shown live on ITV. It is the feature of day two, Ladies’ Day, at the two-day BetVictor Festival of Racing, which starts on Friday 30 October.
That puts it 20 minutes after the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, so Saturday afternoon gives you two early-season staying tests back to back. Our guide to the Charlie Hall at Wetherby covers the British side of that double.
Down Royal Champion Chase 2026: the key facts
- Race title: the BetVictor, Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase.
- Grade: Grade 1, for horses aged five and over.
- Distance: three miles.
- Weights: 11st 10lb each, with a 7lb allowance for mares.
- Prize money: €160,000 guaranteed, with €94,240 to the winner.
- Track: Down Royal, a right-handed course at Maze, near Lisburn.
- Field: seven declared runners in 2026.
Why is it named after Envoi Allen?
Envoi Allen, trained by Henry de Bromhead for Cheveley Park Stud, won this race three times, in 2022, 2024 and 2025. His last win came on 1 November 2025 at the age of 11. He ran at Down Royal seven times in all and won ten Grade 1 races during his career.
He died at Cheltenham earlier this year. In September the course and BetVictor announced that the race would be renamed in his memory, and 2026 is the first running under the new title.
How do the weights work in the Champion Chase?
This is not a handicap. Every horse carries 11st 10lb, with mares getting 7lb off, so the highest-rated runners are not weighed down for being good. That is the main reason Grade 1 races tell you more about who is genuinely best than a big handicap does.
If you want the opposite approach, where weights are set to give every horse a theoretical chance, our explainer on handicap ratings and weights goes through how that works.
What makes Down Royal different?
Down Royal is in Northern Ireland, so it sits in the UK, but it races under Horse Racing Ireland. That is why prize money is in euros and the race counts as part of the Irish season rather than the British one.
The track is right-handed, and Irish going descriptions include terms such as “yielding”, which sits roughly between good and soft. On Thursday 29 October the chase course was officially yielding, good to yielding in places, with some rain forecast, so check the going again on the morning of the race.
Who has won the Down Royal Champion Chase most often?
The race was first run in 1999 over three miles and a furlong, cut to three miles in 2000, and has been a Grade 1 since 2002. It was not run in 2005, when the meeting was abandoned after bomb warnings.
- Most wins by a horse: Envoi Allen, with three.
- Leading jockey: Ruby Walsh, with four wins.
- Leading trainers: Gordon Elliott and Paul Nicholls, with five each. Henry de Bromhead has four.
- Last British-trained winner: Frodon for Paul Nicholls in 2021.
Other names on the roll of honour include Florida Pearl in the first running, Beef Or Salmon twice, Kauto Star in 2008 and 2010, Don Cossack in 2015, Road To Respect in 2018 and 2019, and Gerri Colombe in 2023.
What can the race tell you about the season ahead?
Sometimes a great deal. Kauto Star won here in November 2008 and regained the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following March. Don Cossack won in November 2015 and went on to win the Gold Cup in 2016.
It is a guide, not a guarantee. Most runners are having their first start of the season, and trainers with bigger targets in mind will not always have them fully wound up. A horse beaten here can easily improve for the run, while a winner may have simply been the fittest on the day.
That is why it pays to read the result alongside each horse’s profile and how long it has been off. Our guide to horses returning from a break covers the signs worth looking for.
Who is running in 2026?
Seven horses were declared: Affordale Fury (Noel Meade), Banbridge (Joseph O’Brien), Croke Park and Romeo Coolio (both Gordon Elliott), Fleur In The Park (Andy Slattery), Haiti Couleurs (Rebecca Curtis) and Heart Wood (Henry de Bromhead). Haiti Couleurs is the only British-trained runner.
There are some genuine questions to answer. Affordale Fury, last year’s runner-up, has not run since pulling up in the Irish Gold Cup in February. Heart Wood won the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham in March, but stepping up to three miles is the question, and de Bromhead has said, “We don’t know yet, that’s why we’re starting here.” Banbridge, the 2024 King George winner, had a Flat run in September to put him right.
We are not giving a selection in this guide. Our Irish horse racing tips page is where any Irish selections are posted. If you follow the jumps closely, the site’s free “150 Horses to Follow” jumps ebook is also on offer through the pop-up on our pages.
Down Royal Champion Chase FAQ
When is the Down Royal Champion Chase?
It is on Saturday 31 October 2026, due off at 3.15pm, and is shown live on ITV.
What grade is the Down Royal Champion Chase?
It is a Grade 1, and it is the first Grade 1 of the Irish National Hunt season.
How far is the Down Royal Champion Chase?
It is run over three miles. It was three miles and a furlong in its first year, 1999.
Why is the race called the Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase?
It honours Envoi Allen, who won it three times and died earlier this year. 2026 is the first running under that name.
Who has won the Down Royal Champion Chase most times?
Envoi Allen, with three wins. Ruby Walsh is the leading jockey with four, and Gordon Elliott and Paul Nicholls share the trainer record with five each.
Sources: Horse Racing Ireland, Down Royal Racecourse, the Racing Post racecard and race conditions, and the published rolls of honour for the Champion Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
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