The Queen Mother Champion Chase is one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the Cheltenham festival. It has a great history and there have been some great winners of the race. A number of horses have notched up a sequence in this race. Pearlyman, Badsworth Boy, Moscow Flyer, Viking Flagship and Master Minded all recorded more than one win in the race in recent years.
This is a race where class clearly counts and it is often the best two miler in training that wins the race. I can’t think of too many horses that dominated the two-mile division but failed to take the Champion Chase.
Probably the most remarkable winner of the race was the great Flyingbolt. He won the race in 1966 by more than 20 lengths as a warm-up for the following days Champion Hurdle. In the latter he led at the last and finished a close third despite over jumping every flight. To prove his versatility he finished the season by winning the Irish Grand National in a canter over a distance nearly twice that of the Champion Chase. A remarkable horse.
Memories of Flyingbolt’s 1966 Champion Chase win resurfaced in recent years with the win of Master Minded in 2008. In the view of many commentators this was the best performance in the race since Flyingbolt. However, his 2009 win was less impressive but having put up a stunning performance in the Game Spirit at Newbury last time out he looks set to play a major hand in this year’s renewal. However, will he be my systems selection for the race?
I have studied all the major trends for this race and have run the data through my computer scores of times. The answer that pops out of the machine is always the same. There are just three key factors that consistently pick the winner of this race.
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