Champion Chase Records

Fastest Win: SPRINTER SACRE 2016 ridden by Nico Boinville trained by Nicky Henderson finished in 228.9 s – 3 minutes 48.9 seconds

Most successful horse (3 wins):

Badsworth Boy – 1983, 1984, 1985

Leading jockey (5 wins):

Pat Taaffe – Fortria (1960, 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Straight Fort (1970)
Barry Geraghty – Moscow Flyer (2003, 2005), Big Zeb (2010), Finian's Rainbow (2012), Sprinter Sacre (2013)

Leading trainer (6 wins):

Tom Dreaper – Fortria (1960, 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Muir (1969), Straight Fort (1970)
Nicky Henderson – Remittance Man (1992), Finian's Rainbow (2012), Sprinter Sacre (2013, 2016), Altior (2018, 2019)
Paul Nicholls – Call Equiname (1999), Azertyuiop (2004), Master Minded (2008, 2009), Dodging Bullets (2015), Politologue (2020)

Leading owner (3 wins):

George Ansley – Fortria (1960, 1961), Straight Fort (1970)
Doug Armitage – Badsworth Boy (1983, 1984, 1985)
John Hales – One Man (1998), Azertyuiop (2004), Politologue (2020)

12 Year Trends and Statistics 

• Age – 11 of the last 12 winners were aged between 6 and 10. 5 of them were aged 9 and only 26 horses of that age have run in the last 12 years.
• Sex – All of the last 12 winners were geldings
• Trainer – Nicky Henderson has won this race 5 times in the last 12 years. Paul Nicols has recorded 3 wins and Henry De Bromhead 2 in the same time period.
• Horse – 2 horses have won the race twice in the last 12 years. 
• Country – 5 of the last 12 winners were bred in Ireland, 5 in France and 2 in Great Britain.
• Colour – 8 of the last 12 winners were bay.
• Weight Carried – All 12 winners have carried 11st 10lb and mares 11st 3lb.
• Starting Price (SP) – 9 of the last 12 winners returned a SP of 6/1 or less. 
• Starting Price Rank – 5 of the last 12 winners started as favourite and 11 were in the first 4 in the betting.
• Headgear – None of the last 12 winners wore any headgear.
• Days Since Last Run – 10 of the last 12 winners had run between 45 and 80 days ago. 
• Last Run Form –8 of the last 12 winners had won last time out, 10 of them finished in the first 3 last time.
• Official Rating – 10 of the last 12 winners had an official rating of at least 164.

CHACUN POUR SOI – Lightly raced 9 year old who is 5 wins from 7 over fences including 3 Grade 1’s

POLITIOLOG – Won this last year and proved he has lost none of his sparkle when winning the Tingle Creek at Sandown on reappearance.

ALTIOR – Dual winner of this race who missed last year’s renewal. 15 wins from 17 over fences.

NUBE NEGRA – Young pretender who had the mighty ALTIOR behind when winning the Desert Orchid at Kempton over Christmas. 

What’s Keith’s Queen Mother Champion Chase Tips for 2021?

While I love ALTIOR and want him to run well every time he is getting a bit long in the tooth at 11 years old, NUBE NEGRA who beat him last time is probably not quite the finished article at just 7. POLITILOGUE made-all to win last year but with a couple of the principals missing there were only 5 runners, he is unlikely to get things his own way this year. CHACUN POUR SOI is the absolute box ticker and this is a race that his trainer Willie Mullins would dearly love to win as it has eluded him thus far, currently ante-post favourite at 6/1 he is my selection for the race.. 

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What was Keith’s Champion Chase Tip for 2020?

For the 2020 Cheltenham Festival Antepost Guide Keith wrote about his antepost selections for the Queen Mother Champion Chase: 

This year’s renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase looks set to be a thriller. The three to concentrate on are CHACUN POUR SOI, ALTIOR and DEFI DU SEIUL.   

The first one to be eliminated is CHACUN POUR SOI who is the least experienced having had only four Chase runs and has not run at Cheltenham before.  Now we are down to a head-to head, and whilst DEFI DU SEIUL was impressive at Royal Ascot, quickening  clear before being eased on the run  in, ALTIOR in turn won pretty readily at Newbury, finding an extra gear  after the last and running on well.  

ALTIOR – Keith’s tip for the Champion Chase, no surprise here.  Some quarters have criticised ALTIOR’s win last time for leaving it late but that is how he has won most of his races so I  am sticking with him.

On the day, Keith went for DEFI DU SEUIL

Result: DEFI DU SEUIL turned out to be a disappointing odds-on favourite in the Queen Mother Champion Chase finishing a well beaten fourth of five.

Champion Chase Results

Keith Bond is our resident pro tipster here at FRT Towers. Keith lives and breathes horse racing, having begun his love of horse racing over 40 years ago with a part time job at Catterick Racecourse, as one of three fourteen year-olds looking after two jumps and a hurdle.

Over the years, Keith has been a regular at the northern tracks attending countless race meetings and building up a network of contacts, and a portfolio of systems and strategies. 

He was one of the co-founders of Free Racing Tips all the way back in 2008, and his free tips are now backed by more than seventy thousand FRT members every single day.

“Thanks Keith – It’s great to be part of an amazing group of people all after the same thing, passing on tips to beat the bookies”

Colin Parkinson, Harrow.

The FRT community love Keith’s attention to detail, knowledge of past races, and ability to pick horses...

“You offer some great tips, some fantastic outsiders tipped up as well. Most tipsters just put up favourites. Well done and keep up the good work”

John Woolley, Stockport

Cheltenham Festival Wednesday

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