My 3 Picks for the 2025 Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen

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The Unibet Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen is one of the highlights of the British summer jumps season — a fiercely run Premier Handicap over 2m5½f, attracting seasoned chasers and emerging talents alike.

This year’s field is big and competitive, but history often leaves clues. That’s why I’ve studied the last 30 winners (1995–2024) of this race to extract meaningful trends and profile the type of horse that usually succeeds here. Based on these insights, I’m backing three runners for the 2025 edition.

Before we dive into our top three picks for the Summer Plate Handicap Chase 2025, it’s worth noting that our analysis is based on clear historical trends drawn from past winners — patterns that often repeat themselves in races of this nature.

👉 And if you’re following the weekend’s biggest Flat action too, don’t miss our detailed runner-by-runner preview of the 2025 Irish Oaks — built around 20 years of trends and stats to help you spot this year’s potential winner!

Table of Contents

📚 What the Trends Say: 30 Years of Winners

Here’s what the history of this race teaches us:

🧓 Ideal Age: 25 of the last 30 winners were aged 7 to 9.
⚖️ Winning Weights: 26 of the last 30 winners carried between 10st 6lb and 11st 6lb.
🧠 Official Rating (OR): Most winners were rated between 130 and 139, with a few exceptions like Francky Du Berlais (OR 140+) and Sure Touch (OR 136).
🔁 Repeat Winners: Francky Du Berlais (2021 & 2022) and Sure Touch (2024) proved that returning horses can strike again.
👨‍🏫 Key Trainers: Peter Bowen has dominated this race historically (7 wins), and Paul Nicholls, Jonjo O’Neill, and Martin Pipe have also made strong marks.
🧲 Profile Fit: Horses arriving in good form or showing improvement have a huge edge. Outsiders win occasionally, but they often have a tactical or weight-based angle in their favour.

So, based on these patterns — age, weight, rating, recent form, and trainer — here are my 3 strongest selections for this year’s Summer Plate 👇

🥇 1. Charlie Uberalles 20/1

📌 Age: 9 | Weight: 11-0 | OR: 137 | RPR: 152 | Trainer: Dianne Sayer | Jockey: Danny McMenamin

Charlie Uberalles ticks nearly every box from our trend profile. He’s 9 years old (perfect), carries 11-0 (bang in the sweet spot), and comes here off back-to-back wins in strong company. His RPR of 152 matches recent winning standards, and his trainer has placed him expertly for this target.

🔍 He mirrors recent winners like Sure Touch (2024) and Bobowen (2013) in age, weight, and racing style. His tactical speed and jumping reliability make him a major threat, and if he handles the ground, he’s the most solid pick on paper.

✅ Verdict: A textbook Summer Plate contender — trending up at the right time.

🥈 2. Sure Touch 7/2

📌 Age: 9 | Weight: 10-13 | OR: 136 | RPR: 156 | Trainer: Olly Murphy | Jockey: Sean Bowen

The defending champion returns! Sure Touch won this race in 2024 off exactly the same weight (10-13) and under the same jockey. While he hasn’t lit up the track since, this is clearly his target again, and his RPR remains high (156) — matching what won it last year.

🎯 Only two horses in the last 30 years have won this race more than once: Francky Du Berlais and now possibly Sure Touch. History tells us to respect proven Market Rasen form, and this 9yo holds a major edge in experience.

✅ Verdict: You don’t win the Summer Plate by accident — deserves strong consideration for a repeat.

🥉 3. Bhaloo 10/1

📌 Age: 7 | Weight: 10-13 | OR: 136 | RPR: 154 | Trainer: Nicky Henderson | Jockey: James Bowen

Bhaloo is the dark horse in this race, but his profile quietly aligns with several key winners of the past. At 7 years old, he’s right in the age sweet spot, and his RPR of 154 makes him more than competitive. His connections — Henderson and Bowen — are elite, and they’re no strangers to success in Premier handicaps.

He arrives a bit under the radar after a quiet prep, but this is the type of profile that often slips past the market and runs a huge race — just like Francky Du Berlais did in 2021.

✅ Verdict: Trainer, age, weight, and RPR all fit the profile. Watch for late money 👀

🔚 Final Thoughts

The 2025 Summer Plate is full of depth, but history helps narrow the field. These are the horses whose profiles best match the winning blueprint of the last 30 years:

🥇 Charlie Uberalles – Red-hot form and perfect weight-age-rating combo.
🥈 Sure Touch – Proven course winner, could do a Francky Du Berlais double.
🥉 Bhaloo – Well-handicapped improver with top-tier connections.

Whether you’re betting win-only, each-way, or playing multiples, these three stand out as the statistical and tactical picks for Market Rasen’s biggest day of the summer 🏆