Queen Mother Champion Chase Preview - Cheltenham Festival
Published on: 14/03/2018
Queen Mother Champion Chase Preview - Cheltenham Festival
March 13, 2018 15:30pm - Cheltenham
Cheltenham Festival
Distance: 1m 7f 199y
Grade: 1
Runners: 10
Winner: £227,800
Going: Heavy (soft in places)
It was no surprise when last year`s Arkle winner Altior emerged as hot favourite for this race. Unbeaten in 12 and undefeated over fences and impressed when cruising to a four-lengths win over Politologue in the Game Spirit Chase in February. He also loves it here and arrives in great shape with those around him feeling there is still room for improvement. If that is the case, then the others really won`t stand a chance.
But this is racing and strange things can happen on the day. What`s more, there will be some high quality opposition lining up including Douvan, who was in a similar position to Altior (unbeaten in 12) coming into last year`s race. But as we said, strange things can happen and he just did not get going and came home a disappointing seventh. A pelvic stress fracture was later diagnosed and that was the last we saw if him until now, so he remains a bit of an unknown quantity this year. Expecting him to triumph here on his comeback is a bit too much to ask and he will start far too short for a wager
Min, on the other hand, may tempt a few with a price of 4/1 available. A recent 12-length win at Leopardstown gave a hint of his current form and he looks like the most likely to challenge the favourite. The two went up against each other in the 2016 Supreme, with Altior prevailing with ease on that occasion. But recent outings suggest that Min has improved since then. Whether that will be enough to topple the favourite remains to be seen but he looks like to only other entry worth considering,
Here`s a quick look at the past winners, the latest odds and our top tip of the race.
Queen Mother Champion Chase Winners - past four years:
2014: Sire de Grugy (8) - Jamie Moore (Gary Moore)
2015: Dodging Bullets (7) - Sam Twiston-Davies (Paul Nicholls)
2016: Sprinter Sacre (10) - Nico de Boinville (Nicky Henderson)
2017: Special Tiara (10) - Noel Fehily (Henry de Bromhead)
Latest Betting odds:
Altior 5/4
Douvan 7/2
Min 4/1
Politologue 14/1
Special Tiara 33/1
Charbel 40/1
66/1 bar
You can back Altior at 5/4.
By Neil Morris
Published on: 14/03/2018
Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (14/03/2018 11:11:05) but are subject to change.
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