Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase
# Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase

The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase 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 handicap race, and is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.

## History

The race was established in memory of the 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete (1909–1950), an amateur National Hunt jockey who rode three winners at the Cheltenham Festival. The inaugural race took place in April 1951, because the planned running, in March, had to be abandoned, due to a waterlogged course. It was originally titled the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase.

The Racing Post sponsored the race from 2006 to 2008, and during this period it was titled the Racing Post Plate. The 2009 running was named the Freddie Williams Festival Plate, in tribute to Freddie Williams (1942–2008), a popular Scottish bookmaker who owned a pitch at Cheltenham. The construction company Byrne Group supported the event from 2010 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2020 it was sponsored by Brown Advisory and Merriebelle Stable. The bookmaking firm Paddy Power sponsored in 2021. The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. took over the sponsorship from 2022.

## Records

Most successful horse (2 wins):

* The Tsarevich – 1985, 1986
* Elfast – 1992, 1994

Leading jockey (3 wins):

* Fred Winter – Slender (1951, dead-heat), Sy Oui (1953), Caesar's Helm (1958)

Leading trainer (4 wins):

* Bobby Renton – Tudor Line (1954), Caesar's Helm (1958), Siracusa (1959), Merry Court (1968)
* Nicky Henderson – The Tsarevich (1985, 1986), Liberthine (2005), Non So (2006)
* Martin Pipe – Terao (1997), Majadou (1999), Dark Stranger (2000), Blowing Wind (2002)

## Winners

* Weights given in stones and pounds.
* 1 2 3 4 amateur jockey
* ↑ The 2001 running was cancelled because of a foot-and-mouth crisis
