Wild bantha chase was a slang phrase used during the Galactic Republic era. It referred to an ultimately pointless activity which distracted someone from a desired objective.
When Obi-Wan Kenobi was sent to Utapau to search for General Grievous, he described the hunt to Anakin Skywalker as possibly being "just a wild bantha chase" when Skywalker expressed his opinion that Kenobi would need his help on the mission. While it did transpire that Grievous was in fact waiting on Utapau and was killed by Kenobi, the mission could in fact have been considered a wild bantha chase. Kenobi's defeating Grievous was ultimately largely irrelevant to the ending of the Clone Wars, which came when Sheev Palpatine executed Order 66 and sent Skywalker, now Darth Vader, to Mustafar to defeat the remaining Separatist leaders.
The phrase is derived from the real-world phrase "wild goose chase."
The phrase is derived from the real-world phrase "wild goose chase."