Long considered one of the Cheltenham Festival’s Championship races, the Queen Mother Champion Chase gives us the opportunity to watch the best two-milers on both sides of the Irish Sea go up against each other.
Cheltenham Festival Races: Queen Mother Champion Chase
One mistake can put you out of the race, as all horses are in top gear the whole way round and momentum is crucial. It makes for an exhilarating watch and one you can’t take your eyes off. Here we take a look at the origins of the race, as well as some notable figures in its history.
Queen Mother Champion Chase: History
The history of the Champion Chase dates back to 1959 when the Dan Moore-trained Quita Que claimed victory under jockey Bunny Cox. A year later, Tom Dreaper and Pat Taafe teamed up to win with Fortria, who became the first multiple winner a year later.
Badsworth Boy made history in the 1980s as the only horse to win the race three times and Michael Dickinson’s gelding managed to complete the feat in consecutive years from 1983-85. There have been many iconic winners of this race over the years and the flying grey One Man was inarguably one of the most popular. The Two-time King George winner didn’t stay in the Gold Cup so connections dropped him back to two miles in 1998 and the rest is history.
Horses that win the race multiple times often gain popularity and live long in the memory. In more recent years the likes of Master Minded, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Energumene have managed to do so and the last-named can join Badsworth Boy as a three-time winner if he comes out on top in 2025.
Queen Mother Champion Chase: Leading Trainers
It’s no surprise that the Champion Chase is a hard race to win, as you need to be the absolute cream of the crop in the two-mile chase division. Three trainers share the record for most wins with six apiece, two of which are still at the top of the game and have the potential to add more to their tallies.
The aforementioned Tom Dreaper was the first to reach six successes, courtesy of Fortria (1960 and 1961, Ben Stack (1964), Flying Bolt (1966), Muir (1969) and Straight Fort (1970). This is particularly impressive as he managed to do it within an 11-year period. Nicky Henderson has the favourite for the 2025 renewal in the shape of Jonbon and his novice chaser Sir Gino could be a major force in 2026. His six winners include dual scorers Sprinter Sacre and Altior, whilst his first success came back in 1992 with Remittance Man.
Paul Nicholls has won six times between 1999 and the present day, with two-time winner Master Minded being the standout horse. His demolition of defending champion Voy Por Ustedes in 2008 was electric and he showed all the attributes required to become champion over this trip.
Queen Mother Champion Chase: Leading Jockeys
Pat Taafe was the first jockey to reach five wins in the race and they were all trained by Tom Dreaper. Barry Gerraghty has since repeated the trick and he will be most remembered for partnering the great Moscow Flyer to victory in 2003 and 2005.
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