The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is a Grade 3 chase run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2m abt ½f with 14 fences to be jumped. Open to horses aged five years and older. It is the oldest race at The Cheltenham Festival, dating back to 1864 when it was run in Andoversford. From the 1900s, the race was run at Warwick, Leicester, and Melton Mowbry before returning to Cheltenham in 1913.
Why is it called Johnny Henderson? The race is named after trainer Nicky Henderson's father. In the early 1960s, he realised that Cheltenham Racecourse was attracting the interest of property developers, and to save its future, Johnny and other Jockey Club members formed the Racecourse Holdings Trust and raised £240,000 to purchase the venue.