The 2-mile chase championship is contested on the Wednesday of the festival on the old course and there are 12 fences to be jumped. The race was named after the Queen Mother in 1980 (the year of her 80th birthday) in recognition of her support of jumps racing down the years. The most successful horse in the history of the race is Badsworth Boy, who won 3 titles from 1983-85. There have been numerous dual winners, including Master Minded, Moscow Flyer, Viking Flagship, Barnbrook Again, Pearlyman, Fortria, Sprinter Sacre and of course the reigning champion, Altior. The most successful jockeys in the race have been Pat Taaffe and Barry Geraghty (5 wins apiece) and the most successful trainers are Tom Dreaper and Nicky Henderson, both with 6 wins. The 2020 renewal looks like being absolutely top class, potentially the best renewal for many years. At the 6 day declaration stage there are 11 horses left in, with 6 of the 11 rated 165 or higher by the official handicapper. Current market leader is Nicky Henderson's champion Altior, winner of the last 2 renewals, at around the 15/8 mark. Having lost his unbeaten record over obstacles to Cyrname over 2m5f at Ascot, he want back to 2 miles at Newbury and showed that killer turn of foot to draw away from Sceau Royal up the run-in. For me he is still the one to beat and it will take an exceptional performance to beat him. But there are plenty of challengers. Next best in the betting is Defi Du Seuil at 9/4 and he is already a dual Cheltenham festival winner, his Triumph Hurdle and JLT Novice Chase victories sandwiching a disappointing year over hurdles in open company. He already has the Shloer, Tingle Creek and Clarence House chases under his belt this season but the nagging question remains: has he only won those races because Altior wasn't there? Then comes the Irish challenge. Willie Mullins Chacun Pour Soi (5/2) looked an absolute superstar last season when accounting for both Defi Du Seuil and Arkle winner Duc Des Genievres at Punchestown. Somewhat surprisingly, he was beaten on seasonal debut at Leopardstown by A Plus Tard, himself a jaw-dropping winner at last season's festival and this time hovering between the Champion Chase and Ryanair Chase (dependent upon the going). The admirable Min may also go Ryanair rather than here. Back to the UK challenge and the wonder mare Lady Buttons will have her supporters (reebs for one) but might just find this too hot. Paul Nicholls has 2 live hopes in Politilogue (so often a bridesmaid in the top races) and the young horse Dynamite Dollars, who was only 3.5 lengths behind Altior at Newbury and will likely come on for that. All in all this looks like a serious race and will be one of the highlights of the week. For my money Altior will take all the beating and he can secure his place in history by becoming only the second triple winner.
Given that you've made the effort (and I don't mean that sarcastically) and this is one of the races of the festival. My twopenneth is - This race revolves around a few questions and a few ponderables. Last year the Champion Chase wasn't run at its usual spectacular end to end gallop, and they almost found Altior out with a sprint from the last. He managed to outgun them, but this season will he have to do the same, or will it be a more genuine end to end gallop, and if so, who will that benefit? Chacun Pour Soi is the horse that those questions revolve around for me, he went a proper good gallop when beating Min last time out, and he jumped for fun at a strong pace. The question will be, if he goes like that, will he get home, and if they don't think he will, then will they hold onto him more? My view is that they need to ride him like a champion, and they need to let him get on with it and see if he can get the others in trouble with his jumping. That would mean setting a properly nice gallop and seeing if they can stay well enough in the closing stages. My view is that unless he pings every fence then he will struggle to outstay Altior. If he can get lengths out of him at most fences, then it might be a case of whether Altior can make up lengths up the straight. One horse who does stay very well is Defi, and I have him down as the winner of this race, but his question mark is about how well he will jump in a championship race at a good pace. He has been very impressive this season, and I think he should be favourite here, but Altior holds the crown and he did show enough last time to suggest that he can take a hand in this race once more. The rest of the field isn't spectacular, albeit we do have Politilogue and Sceau Royal in the list, both of whom ran so well at the festival last season. I think with a stronger pace, they will finish further behind Altior this season, and therefore I would be surprised if they get in the picture at the end of the race. Dynamite Dollars is possibly the horse who could continue to improve, but this is a massive test and I don't think he is one you'd want to back to improve again. To me this is between the big three, and Defi is the one for me.
Nice analysis Nass, I know you always like the pace angle If the strong pace does materialise (and assuming the ground is soft-ish) does A Plus Tard come into the equation? Or was Chacun Pour Soi simply under-cooked when beaten by A Plus Tard on seasonal debut?
A Plus Tard hopefully runs in the Ryanair. This race could cut up further with Min likely to go Ryanair too. Lady Buttons might go to the Mares race. Bun Doran is in the Grand Annual still. If you fancy one to place, I'd be looking at getting on before final decs and getting three places.
Yep could end up with about 6 runners. Still going to be a cracker with a capital C though I might try and knock up a Gold Cup thread this evening.
I will keep it simple. Defi du Seiul has been the best 2 miler this season and will win. Race of the week though for me.
I backed Defi to win the Triumph but it all went wrong for him after that as they couldnt get him right. He has bounced back but his beatings of UDS this season twice does not look strong form to me. CPS I think his beating of Defi was flattered as he was a lot fresher when they met. I do not see much between them. So, the might Altior, i will stick with the champ. I do worry that Cyrname and him have left their mark on each other and he obviously is not better than the last 2 years but it cohld still be enough for him to get up after the last.
For me, Altior is a lovely specimen of a horse and it will be very disappointing if he doesn't win this and establish himself as one of the greats
I'm siding with the young pretender Defi Du Sueil here.He has been so impressive this season and hasnt stopped improving. Altior on the other hand seems to be slightly regressing and he made heavy work beating to two weaker opponents last year, he wont get away with that this time.Willies runner is the dark horse and should be in the mix but the lack of a Cheltenham run is a slight negative for me.Dynamite Dollars is a big Ew price at 25s and can sneak a place for Nicholls, one of the top three could throw in the towel.
Altior has only ever beaten one top horse over fences and that was Un De Seaux. Which says a lot about the opposition the past few years. Douvan was another and he was cruising and possibly going to hack up when he fell, so that doesn't count. He's brilliantly consistent( like Winx) but not a brilliant horse in my opinion. I really hope Defi wins this, even though his best wins were against an Old UDS. He's young and rapidly improving and fingers crossed he will win.
I have a feeling Altior will be beaten this year..don't like his preparation and feel his match against Cyrname might have taken the edge off him. So I am weighing up Defi du Seul or Chacun Pour SoI. One of those will be my bets just not decided which one yet.....
Altior out of the champion chase. Here we go first epetante now altior. I’ve always felt uneasy about trainer bookie associations a day before the festival altior lame.
Horses get lame all the time and because of his association with Unibet he has to come out and say something. I prefer it that way than if he had no association with any bookmaker, just kept it quiet and the horse ran like a drain. Nice and transparent this way
not sure I agree with that, however on this one it’s putting even more pressure on his shoulders to make the correct decision. If anything goes wrong then it’ll be a heck of a situation. I’ve not seen the market this morning prior to that announcement, but I’m sure it’d be interesting!
Also bookies make a lot of money from ante post bets these days conflict of interest. I haven’t seen any background on this lameness did it happen on the gallops? Overnight in his box? We are being told all the time how well looked after these horses are. Is there cctv in his box?
Right I’ve just seen the story he done a splint. He won’t be running. This is the thing. Henderson will do all he can to get altior to Cheltenham on Wednesday he still not committing himself. If he’s done a splint he needs box rest for a week at least maybe two. This is where the sinister part comes in . You could give him some Bute which would mask the injury but he wouldn’t be allowed and this is where his reputation comes into focus.
How is the testing done in horse racing? At premier league football games or training the testing officials at the end of the game or training stand with a club rep and they say randomly the 4th and 9th guy to come past them. They get nabbed and tested. Surely Hendo cant give Altior Bute and get away with it or even risk it.
Bute is a drug regularly given to horses for injuries. You wouldn’t be able to race on Bute. There are people who use old fashioned techniques for injuries that can be masked as something else like in lots of other sports. And when caught plead ignorance. What I was trying to say probably not very well.is. If altiors done a splint he won’t be racing Wednesday unless a there’s some skulduggery going on or b he’s trying to mislead the public, media.
Tingle Creek form always stands up well in the CC In fact you could almost say the Tingle Creek winner generally wins the CC
