M.W. Hickey Memorial Chase Day at Wexford: The Complete Guide

The M.W. Hickey Memorial Chase is a Listed steeplechase run over 2m7f (about 4,627 m) at Wexford, open to horses aged five and upwards. It is the only black-type race staged at the course, which has no Pattern or Graded contest, so it stands as the most valuable and most prestigious race on Wexford's calendar.

The race is run in late October, on the October Bank Holiday weekend, as the centrepiece of Wexford's two-day Autumn Festival. Recent runnings have carried added prize money of around €25,000, with roughly €15,000 to the winner. Purses have moved a little year to year, sitting in the €22,500 to €27,500 range across recent seasons.

Wexford is a sharp, undulating, left-handed jumps track of about nine to nine-and-a-half furlongs a circuit, with a slightly uphill home straight and a short run-in. Over 2m7f the field completes roughly three laps, which asks for a horse that can jump economically and hold a prominent position on tight turns rather than one that relies on a long finishing burst. Fields are small, typically three to five runners, which is normal for a Listed chase of this kind at a country course.

Detail	Value
Grade	Listed (black type)
Distance	2m7f (about 4,627 m)
Age and sex	5 years and upwards
Discipline	Steeplechase (National Hunt)
When	Late October, October Bank Holiday weekend
Added prize money	Around €25,000 (recent runnings)
To the winner	Around €15,000
Listed since	2013
Course	Wexford, left-handed, jumps only

The going is usually good to soft or softer by late October, and the 2025 running was completed in 6 minutes 08.40 seconds. Any winner trends noted later in this guide are context for reading the race, not a betting system.

The race is named after Michael W. Hickey, the patriarch of the Hickey family of Garryrichard Stud at Foulksmills, County Wexford. Garryrichard is a long-established National Hunt breeding operation and home to several notable jumps stallions, and the family remains connected to the running of the racecourse. The stud passed to his son Denis Hickey, and a member of the family has also served on the board of the company that operates the course.

For most of its existence the race was a handicap chase, run in 2012 as the M.W. Hickey Memorial Handicap Chase. The turning point came in 2013, when it was awarded Listed status. That upgrade was significant for Wexford beyond the race itself: it became the first Listed race staged at the course since 2005, restoring black-type racing to a programme otherwise made up of maidens, handicaps and bumpers.

The Listed era began in earnest with Double Seven's win in 2013, and within a few seasons the race was pulling in Grade 1-class chasers from the leading yards. The prize money settled into the low-to-mid €20,000s, and the fixture established itself as the quality highlight of Wexford's Autumn Festival over the October Bank Holiday weekend.

The race also carries the wider story of a course that reinvented itself in the same period. The modern Wexford track at Bettyville, overlooking Wexford Harbour, opened on 15 October 1951. In early 2015 the course underwent the biggest change in its history, switching the direction of racing from right-handed to left-handed and adding two furlongs, with the winning post moved beyond the stands. The following year, on 1 June 2016, Flat racing was discontinued and Wexford became a jumps-only National Hunt venue. The Hickey Memorial Chase's rise to Listed status sits right alongside that reinvention, and it is now the flagship of the reshaped, jumps-only course.

For a small country Listed race, the Hickey Memorial Chase has an unusually strong roll of honour. The confirmed winners below run from the start of the Listed era; several years in between could not be pinned down to a named source, so they are left out rather than filled with guesses.

Year	Winner	Trainer	Jockey
2013	Double Seven	Martin Brassil	n/a
2014	Road To Riches	Noel Meade	n/a
2018	Peregrine Run	Peter Fahey	n/a
2020	Minella Indo	Henry de Bromhead	Rachael Blackmore
2021	Eklat De Rire	Henry de Bromhead	Rachael Blackmore
2022	Noble Yeats	Emmet Mullins	Sean Bowen
2025	Blizzard Of Oz	Willie Mullins	Paul Townend

The names that give the race its reputation are the championship chasers. Minella Indo won the 2020 running for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore, going away by 25 lengths from Milan Native as the 8/13 favourite in a four-runner field, then won the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following March. Noble Yeats took the 2022 race for Emmet Mullins and Sean Bowen, winning by four and three-quarter lengths on heavy ground as the reigning Grand National winner, before heading to the Grade 2 Many Clouds Chase at Aintree.

The earlier Listed winners were no lesser lights. Double Seven, trained by Martin Brassil for J.P. McManus, won in 2013 and went on to finish third in the 2014 Aintree Grand National behind Pineau De Re. Road To Riches, trained by Noel Meade for Gigginstown House Stud, won in 2014 in a season that also brought him the Galway Plate, the Grade 1 JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal and the Grade 1 Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, before he was third in the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup behind Coneygree. Valseur Lido and Sub Lieutenant, both Grade 1-class chasers, also feature on the roll, though the exact years of their wins could not be confirmed. Valseur Lido was a dual Grade 1 winner over fences, trained during his career by Willie Mullins and later Henry de Bromhead for Gigginstown.

The most recent name is Blizzard Of Oz, who took the 2025 running for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, winning by three-quarters of a length as the 11/8 chance from four runners. Among the trainers, Henry de Bromhead has been the standout of the modern Listed era with Minella Indo and Eklat De Rire, while Willie Mullins is the dominant force at the Wexford track overall.

Before any of this: over time, backing favourites loses money to the starting price. Favourites winning does not make backing them profitable, and no system or trend changes the long-run edge held by the bookmaker. The points below are context for reading the Hickey Memorial Chase, not a way to beat it.

Small fields and short prices

The Hickey is usually a three-to-five-runner Listed chase, and in recent years it has fallen to the leading yards' better horses at short odds. Minella Indo (8/13) and Blizzard Of Oz (11/8) both obliged as favourites. That reflects the class gap in a small field rather than a betting edge. A short-priced favourite in a tiny field still returns very little when it wins and costs the full stake when it does not, so the market being "right" is not the same as the race being profitable to back.

Course character and pace

Wexford is a sharp, undulating, left-handed track with tight turns and a short, slightly uphill run-in. Track data has shown a clear bias towards prominent, early-pace runners over both hurdles and chases, with returns falling away the further back a horse is held up. Over the 2m7f trip of the Hickey, a horse needs to stay every yard, but jumping economically and holding a handy position matters more here than a big finishing burst.

Class and course form

The strongest pointer in a race like this is simple class. The winners have tended to be horses stepping down in grade or using the race as a starting point for a bigger campaign, and proven chasing ability on soft ground travels well into a late-October Wexford Listed race. None of that is a reason to expect a profit.

Responsible betting

Set a budget before the day and treat it as your entertainment spend, win or lose. You must be 18 or over to bet. For support with gambling, visit BeGambleAware.org.

The Hickey Memorial Chase headlines Wexford's Autumn Festival, a two-day meeting held over the October Bank Holiday weekend and the quality highlight of the course's year. The rest of the festival card is built around maiden hurdles, handicap hurdles and chases, beginners' chases and bumpers, with the Veterans Handicap Chase among the more valuable supporting races. The Hickey is the black-type centrepiece that the two days are arranged around.

Wexford's season is a spread-out one. The course stages around 11 National Hunt fixtures between March and November, sitting either side of the core winter jumps season rather than in the thick of it. The year opens with a popular St Patrick's Day meeting in March, runs through a series of summer Friday-evening fixtures and a two-day August meeting with a Ladies Day, and then builds to the Autumn Festival in late October. After that the calendar winds down towards the end of the National Hunt year at Wexford.

That placement shapes what the Hickey is for. Late October is early in the staying-chase season, before the major Christmas and spring festivals, so the race tends to work as a starting point for good chasers rather than a target in itself. Minella Indo used it as a stepping stone towards the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Noble Yeats moved on from it to the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree. A win here is a season-opening statement more than a campaign's high point.

Because Wexford runs no Pattern or Graded race, the Hickey carries the course's entire black-type programme on its own. For the wider picture of the track, the season and how to plan a day at the races, see the Wexford Racecourse Complete Guide.

Wexford racing is broadcast in the UK and Ireland on Racing TV, the Racecourse Media Group channel, and can be streamed through a Racing TV subscription or through bookmaker platforms for account holders. That is how most people will follow the Hickey Memorial Chase, which in 2025 went off at 15:30 as the feature of the Autumn Festival card. The race is run in late October, over the October Bank Holiday weekend; check the official calendar at wexfordraces.ie for the confirmed date and off-time each year, as the exact day moves with the Bank Holiday.

Being there is the better experience, and the Autumn Festival is one of the busiest fixtures of Wexford's year. The course sits at Bettyville on the Newtown Road, about a kilometre west of Wexford town, overlooking Wexford Harbour. Admission is the same for all fixtures, at around €15 for adults and €10 for OAPs and students, with children under 14 admitted free. General admission is bought on the day rather than pre-booked.

If you want to make more of it, the All-In Ticket Package costs around €30, pre-booked by phone, and includes admission plus a two-course meal in the Ivy Room, the course's principal bar and restaurant. Free parking for around 200 cars is available in the centre of the course, first come first served. There is no formal dress code; smart casual is the norm.

Getting there is straightforward. By road, exit the N25 at the New Ross roundabout and follow the signs towards Wexford. By rail, Wexford station is about two kilometres away with up to four Irish Rail services a day from Dublin, and a local bus links the town with the course. For full travel, ticket and facilities detail, see the Wexford Racecourse Complete Guide.