Grand Annual

 The Grand Annual Chase is the oldest race at the Festival having first been staged on 4th April 1834 over 4 miles of open country at Andoversford, near Cheltenham. Although that race was discontinued in the 1860s, it was revived in the early 1900s, although it was staged at various courses, notably Warwick, Melton Mowbray and Leicester. It was only in 1913 that it returned permanently to Cheltenham and has been a significant part of the Festival ever since. It is run over 1 mile 7 furlongs and 199 yards and 14 fences and is now classed as a Premier Handicap. In 2005 its name was updated to the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase in recognition of the part played by Johnny Henderson, father of legendary trainer Nicky Henderson, in forming the Racecourse Holdings Trust which secured the future of Cheltenham by purchasing the Prestbury Park venue for £240,000.

Early history:- The inaugural running of Grand Annual Chase took place on April 4 1834 at Andoversford, in the vicinity of Cheltenham when won by Fugleman owned by Mr R D’Oyley beating Conrad owned by Colonel Gilbert.
Grand Annual 2003 Premier Handicap 2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 PALARSHAM Mark Bradburne Henry Daly Mrs A L Wood 8/1
2 RISK ASSESSOR Seamus Durak Christy Roche Mr John P McManus 20/1
3 DARK'N SHARP Richard Johnson Richard Phillips Ascot Five Plus One 13/2
4 VOL SOLITAIRE Ruby Walsh Paul Nicholls Mr B C Marshall 7/1
5 ROSS MOFF Timmy Murphy Tony Martin (Ire) Mr Seamus Ross 6/1 fav
6 RED ARK Larry McGrath Richard Guest Mrs N B Mason 20/1
7 NATIVE SCOUT Barry Geraghty Donal Hassett Mr Mark Sheasby 7/1
8 EXIT SWINGER Rodi Greene Martin Pipe Miss K S Buckley 14/1
9 KORAKOR David Dennis Ian Williams Mr & Mrs J Cotton 33/1
10 ROYAL JAKE Paul Carberry Noel Meade Mr Charles Hitchings 25/1
11 HARVIS Graham Lee Venetia Williams Mr Peter Richardson 25/1
12 LORD GREY Jim Culloty D P Kelly Mrs Barbara Marchant 33/1
13 GET ONE TOO Mick Fitzgerald Nicky Henderson Sir Eric & Mary Anne Parker 16/1
14 TURGEONEV Russ Garrity Tim Easterby Mr D F Sills 16/1
15 CASTLE PRINCE Anthony Honeyball Ron Hodges Miss R Dobson 150/1
16 WAVE ROCK Tony Dobbin Philip Hobbs Sterling Racing 25/1
17 GOLDEN ALPHA Tony McCoy Martin Pipe The Johnson Family 10/1
18 ESKLEYBROOK Mr David Mansell V Y Gethin Mr V Y Gethin 16/1
19 FADOUDAL DU COCHET David Casey Arthur Moore Sir Anthony O'Reilly 9/1
20 BLEU SUPERBE Alan O'Keeffe Venitia Williams Mr P A Deal 20/1
21 PASSEREAU Tom Doyle Christopher Kellett Miss M Hooper 100/1

Won by 3 lengths and 3/4 length

 Over round 132%

The 2003 Grand Annual was held on Thursday 13th March 2003