The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the feature race on day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival. Run over 1m 7f 199y, the Grade 1 contest attracts the premier two-milers and it will take place in 2026 at 4.00pm on Wednesday 11 March.
Our team of tipsters, which includes Andrew Mount and Matty Sutcliffe, will provide their top Queen Mother Champion Chase tips here nearer the off…
Matty Sutcliffe’s Champion Chase Tips
Matty Sutcliffe believes Saint Segal can prove each-way value as an outsider in the Champion Chase. Sure to race prominently, he can continue battling when others begin to falter.
Joe Napier’s Champion Chase Tips
Joe Napier is forgiving Il Etait Temps a below par run at Ascot last time out. He will have to recover from a late fall that day, but has form comparable to favourite Majborough.
Queen Mother Champion Chase Bookmaker Runners + Odds – Race 4, Wednesday 11th March 4:00
All About The Queen Mother Champion Chase Trophy in 2027
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is regularly won by a superstar. When we know more about the line-up in detail, we will update the card above, plus give our selections.
Majborough was a stunning winner at the Dublin Racing Festival, where he beat last year’s Champion Chase hero Marine Nationale, but the latter has been ruled out of this year’s race with an injury. Majborough will have to contend with some top notch two-milers with the likes of L’Eau Du Sud and Il Etait Temps, who could add more depth to the race.
Qualifications/Trends
Check out the key trends for the 2026 Queen Mother Champion Chase here:
Queen Mother Champion Chase History
The Queen Mother had Cheltenham’s two-mile chasing championship named after her in 1980, but the race itself was first run in 1959. Without a sponsor until 2007, the race has had a partnership with Betway since 2015.
Quita Que was the inaugural winner, but supremacy was soon taken by two men: trainer Tom Dreaper and jockey Pat Taaffe.
Together, the pair won five runnings of the Champion Chase between 1960 and 1970. Two of those were courtesy of Fortria (1960, 1961), with one each for Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966) and Straight Fort (1970). Taaffe added one more for good measure in 1969 with Muir, ridden by Ben Hannon.
Fortria is one of a number of horses who have been able to win this race twice, but while the other three championship races at the Festival have played host to multiple hat-trick winners, only Badsworth Boy has managed it in the Queen Mother, between 1983 and 1985.
Among those dual winners read many illustrious names. Hilly Way now has a raced named in his honour at Cork, Viking Flagship won two fantastic races in the 1990s, while Barnbrook Again ensured David Elsworth and Simon Sherwood completed a memorable double in 1989 with Desert Orchid later winning the Gold Cup.
Dreaper’s sextet of titles is unsurpassed even to this day, but two men have managed to match him in recent years. Nicky Henderson’s haul started off with Remittance Man in 1992, but a yawning gap of 19 years set in before his second winner, Finian’s Rainbow. Two each for Sprinter Sacre and Altior drew him level.
Paul Nicholls joined them a year later with Politologue his sixth winner. Master Minded provided two of his wins, while Call Equiname, Azertyuiop and Dodging Bullets were the other three. Taaffe was also unmatched as a jockey until Barry Geraghty lifted his fifth Champion Chase on Sprinter Sacre in 2013, but he was unable to go past.
While we have seen some awesome winners in recent years, none more so than Sprinter Sacre, it was possibly worth going all the way back to 1971 for a horse remembered like no other. That chaser was Crisp, astonishingly talented, but known more for his memorable defeat in the 1973 Grand National.
Winners since 2000
| Year | Horse | Jockey/Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Edredon Bleu | J:A P McCoy T:Henrietta Knight | 7/2 |
| 2001 | VOID | J:N/A T:N/A | VOID |
| 2002 | Flagship Uberalles | J:Richard Johnson T:Philip Hobbs | 7/4F |
| 2003 | Moscow Flyer | J:Barry Geraghty T:Jessica Harrington | 7/4F |
| 2004 | Azertyuiop | J:Ruby Walsh T:Paul Nicholls | 15/8 |
| 2005 | Moscow Flyer | J:Barry Geraghty T:Jessica Harrington | 6/4F |
| 2006 | Newmill | J:Andrew McNamara T:John Joseph Murphy | 16/1 |
| 2007 | Voy Por Ustedes | J:Robert Thornton T: Alan King | 5/1 |
| 2008 | Master Minded | J:Ruby Walsh T:Paul Nicholls | 3/1 |
| 2009 | Master Minded | J:Ruby Walsh T:Paul Nicholls | 4/11F |
| 2010 | Big Zeb | J:Barry Geraghty T:Colm Murphy | 10/1 |
| 2011 | Sizing Europe | J:Andrew Lynch T:Henry De Bromhead | 10/1 |
| 2012 | Finian’s Rainbow | J:Barry Geraghty T:Nicky Henderson | 4/1 |
| 2013 | Sprinter Sacre | J:Barry Geraghty T:Nicky Henderson | 1/4F |
| 2014 | Sire De Grugy | J:Jamie Moore T:Gary Moore | 11/4F |
| 2015 | Dodging Bullets | J:Sam Twiston-Davies T:Paul Nicholls | 9/2 |
| 2016 | Sprinter Sacre | J:Nico De Boinville T:Nicky Henderson | 5/1 |
| 2017 | Special Tiara | J:Noel Fehily T:Henry De Bromhead | 11/1 |
| 2018 | Altior | J:Mark Walsh T:Willie Mullins | EvsF |
| 2019 | Altior | J:Nico De Boinville T:Nicky Henderson | 4/11F |
| 2020 | Politologue | J:Harry Skelton T:Paul Nicholls | 6/1 |
| 2021 | Put The Kettle On | J:Aidan Coleman T:Henry De Bromhead | 17/2 |
| 2022 | Energumene | J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins | 5/2 |
| 2023 | Energumene | J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins | 6/5F |
| 2024 | Captain Guinness | J:Rachael Blackmore T:Henry De Bromhead | 9/1 |
| 2025 | Marine Nationale | J:Sean Flanagan T:Barry Connell | 5/1 |
| 2026 | Il Etait Temps | J:Paul Townend T:Willie Mullins | 5/2 |
Cheltenham Festival Racing Schedule