Quite simply, the biggest race staged at Huntingdon every year; the Peterborough Chase is a Grade 2 contest run over a trip just short of two-and-a-half miles.
Overall, 16 fences are taken by what is always a high-quality field running for around £65,000. The horses who do well in this December event are often prepped for a race at the Cheltenham Festival the following March.
The Peterborough Chase has changed over the years. A handicap chase when first being run midweek from 1969 over three miles, the race was altered in 1977 when it became a 2½-mile conditions event, which meant it began to attract some better-quality chasers looking to move into Grade One races.
Past winners of the Peterborough include such eminent horses as Border Incident, Wayward Lad, Remittance Man, One Man, Edredon Bleu (four times), three-time Gold Cup winner Best Mate, Monet’s Garden, Al Ferof, and twice recently by Nicky Henderson’s aptly named Top Notch.