Eye of Grey Horse with Black Bridle Strap
by: Racing EditorPosted on:

Grey Dawning Bids to Win a Second Betfair Chase

Those who follow horse racing have always seemed to have a love affair with grey horses. The latest to win plenty of fans (and more importantly races) is Grey Dawning. Will November 21 see him win the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park for the second year in a row?

Last year’s success saw Grey Dawning follow such legendary horses as Kauto Star and Cue Card in winning this Grade 1 chase.  Since winning this race last year, he has finished fourth in the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but ended last season with success in the JCB Mellows Chase at Aintree in April.

Skelton Star Top the Betting

Grey Dawning finished second in this race in 2024. He went one better last year and the Dan Skelton runner is the 4-5 favourite to win the race again in November. This is run over three miles and one-and-a-half furlongs.  A win would make it seven victories in 15 chases.

If you want to be placing a bet on the Betfair Chase, online bookmakers will have plenty of markets available. Before you register with an online betting site, it is best to do some research on a website that reviews online bookmakers.

Whether 2027 will see Grey Dawning try again to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup remains to be seen. He’s currently 8/1 third favourite to win the Ryanair Chase. A strong run in the Betfair Chase looks very likely and he could well be the winner once again.

Salver Leads the Challenge

Trying to stop him repeating last year’s success will be Salver who is trained by Gary and Josh Moore. The six-year-old is the current second favourite with online bookmakers. Odds will fluctuate before the race gets underway, so it is worth checking the latest horse racing odds on the day. At present, Salver is generally available at 5-1.

This Grade 1 chase was first run in 2005. Salver is six-years-old and a horse that age has only won this race three times, The first to achieve that feat was Kauto Star in 2006, the first of a record four Betfair Chase triumphs. You have to go back to 2017 for the last six-year-old to win this race and that was Bristol de Moi, who also won the following year.

Can Salver win in November? February 2026 produced a Grade 2 win in a Novices’ Chase held at Windsor. An impressive run came at the Cheltenham Festival with only two horses finishing ahead of him in the Brown’s Advisory Chase. Salver was promoted to second place after the disqualification of Final Demand.

A high placing in that race was pretty impressive.  Salver was kicked before the race and then hampered during it. Following the Cheltenham race, the six-year-old finished third in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase.

A mistake was made at the last and a cleaner jumping performance will be needed at Haydock.  There is likely to be improvement to come and with a smoother run, going to an online bookmaker and placing an each-way bet looks like a good idea.

Iroko Begins Road to the Grand National

Later in the season, Iroko will again try to win the Grand National. The eight-year-old was second this year and that followed a fourth place in 2025. That legendary race is of course run over a much longer distance than the Betfair Chase.

Iroko is 9-1 with online bookmakers to win this race and the 16-1 fourth favourite for next year’s Grand National. Looking at Iroko’s performances at distances closer to that of this race, he did finish tenth in the three mile and a furlong Ultima Handicap at the Cheltenham Festival. All was not well that day and Iroko is definitely better than that result suggests.

Looking at how a horse runs on certain courses is always handy when placing online bets. Iroko has twice finished second at Haydock including last year’s Betfair Exchange Graduation Chase. Another bold showing looks likely in November.

Caldwell Potter to Return After Lengthy Injury

Paul Nicholls has trained the winner of this race on a record six occasions. Four were with Kauto Star, the other two by Silviano Conti. His last success was with the latter in 2014. Could a 12-year wait for winner number seven come in November.

Nicholls is due to run Caldwell Potter in this year’s Betfair Chase. The eight-year-old was bought for €740,000 purchase and his owners include Sir Alex Ferguson. Caldwell Potter has won three out of five chases. The last two of those came at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and then at Aintree.

That was Caldwell Potter’s last run due to an injury that was sustained while out on the gallops. Last year the Betfair Chase was seen as a target, but it was not to be. You can get 14-1 on a comeback win at Haydock.

Grey Dawning looks a worthy favourite for this race and is likely to go off as the odds-on favourite with online bookmakers. A second successive win at Haydock does look the most likely result in November.