The Byrne Group Festival Plate

The Byrne Group Festival Plate, formerly known as the Freddie Williams Festival Plate, is one of the major grade 3 handicap chases run during the course of the Cheltenham Festival. The race covers a distance of 2 miles 4½ furlongs on the New Course, and features 15 fences.

Entry to the Byrne Group Plate is restricted to racehorses over the age of 5. The race was first run in 1951 as the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase, with the name later changed to commemorate the contribution made by Scottish bookie, Freddie Williams, to the Cheltenham Festival.

Byrne Group Plate Betting & Trends

Weight: Winners of the last five races have carried weights in the 10st to 11st 7lbs margin. The majority of race winners have carried under 11st.
Age: Experience counts in the Byrne Group Festival Plate, with four of the last five winners priced aged 8 or older.
Odds: Long odds winners of the Byrne Group Plate are the norm. Winners of the last five races were priced anywhere from 12/1 to 66/1. No antepost favourite has won the race since 1999.
Jockey: Richard Johnson has ridden two winners in the race is the last decade, however this is an open race and even amateur jockeys score the occasional win.
Trainer: Martin Pipe has won the race four times since 1997, while Venetia Williams and Nicky Henderson have both picked up two titles apiece in the last five years.
Byrne Group Festival Plate Tip: The favourite for the Byrne Group Festival Plate is usually backed down to the 3/1 mark and rarely manages to achieve so much as a place in the race. Lay the favourite at a betting exchange.

Byrne Group Plate Winners

While it is rare for winners of the Byrne Group Plate to go on to greater things, the race has produced some memorable moments. In 2008 Mr McGoldrick, an 11-year-old carrying a hefty weight of 11st 7lbs, produced the performance of his career to win the Byrne Group Plate at odds of 66/1. Tote payouts on his win ran as high as 147/1.

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