The Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival may not be the highest quality race of the week, but it is certainly one that many fans look forward to. A unique course and race, this tests horses and jockeys in a completely different way to what we are used to seeing.

This year, the race was shaping up nicely, but we have had a fascinating contender emerge, after J.P. McManus purchased a horse named Prengarde from France. Despite never setting foot in the UK before, Prengarde shot to the head of the horse racing betting market for the Cross Country Chase and is 5/1 favourite with Paddy Power for the contest.

The horse is just a six-year-old, meaning he is highly likely to be a lot younger than his rivals on the day, when we reach the Cheltenham Festival in March. However, age hasn’t stopped him from accumulating experience on cross country courses: he’s run six times in this type of race in France, winning five of them. This includes a listed win, showing the kind of level he has been operating at in France, and instantly is good enough to put him in the picture to win at Cheltenham.

Enda Bolger to train Prengarde

On top of having a very appealing profile, Prengarde will go to one of the best cross country trainers, with Enda Bolger taking care of the horse. He is a man who has had a lot of success in these races, both in Ireland and at the Cheltenham Festival.

It also shows that J.P. McManus wants to train this horse specifically for the cross country program. Had he wanted to go chasing with the horse, there is no doubt he would have chosen a different trainer to take him on.

The Cross Country competition

The biggest competition for Prengarde is another horse owned by J.P. McManus and that is Easysland. He won the 2020 Cross Country Chase in great style to shoot to the top of the division, and has now been transferred to the Jonjo O’Neill yard in Britain.

Although he didn’t perform well in the race last season, Easysland is the 6/1 second favourite behind Prengarde to win the race. The third horse to mention is Tiger Roll, a horse that is strongly associated with both the race, and the Cheltenham Festival as a whole.

A three-time winner, in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Tiger Roll won his fifth Cheltenham Festival race with that victory in 2021. If he turns up in 2022, just being competitive would be an achievement, and of course if he wins, the roof would almost certainly come off the grandstand for him.

With the last two winners seemingly returning for the race in 2022, the standard for Prengarde to beat is known. Now, all eyes are on the six-year-old to see if he can take the British and Irish cross country scene by storm.