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2024 Champion Chase Tips, Odds and News

The feature race on Ladies' Day at the Cheltenham Festival is the Champion Chase. The Champion Chase may be the youngest of the four Championship race at Cheltenham, having been created in 1959, but the race boasts a rich history of winners. The Champion Chase is also named in honour of the Queen Mother, who gave so much to the sport of horse racing during her lifetime.

Champion Chase Key Facts

Date Wednesday 13th March, 2024
Time 3:30pm
Course Cheltenham Festival
Status Grade One
Distance 2m
Prize Pool £400k
Age 5YO+

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Champion Chase Odds

Champion Chase Tips

Our guide to the Champion Chase will be published in the weeks leading up to the Cheltenham Festival.

2023 Champion Chase Runners

Willie Mullins' wait for a first Queen Mother victory ended 12 months ago, as Energumene hacked up the Cheltenham hill to claim an impressive victory. Mullins' nine-year-old returned to action with an easy win in the Hilly Way Chase and Energemene is currently odds-on to defend his crown.

Ireland's Champion Trainer accounts for four of the initial 14 Champion Chase entries. Energumene could be joined in the field by recent Leopardstown winner Blue Lord, multiple Grade One hero Chacun Pour Soi, and last season's Aintree winner Gentleman De Mee.

Sitting between Energumene and Blue Lord in the market is last season's Arkle winner Edwardstone, who kicked off this season with victory in the Tingle Creek. Three-time Grade One winner, Greaneteen could represent Paul Nicholls. Editeur Du Gite and Nube Negra, first and second in the recent Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton, also feature in the market.

Other possible runners include Henry De Bromhead's duo of Captain Guinness and Coeur Sublime, Joe Tizzard's Amarillo Sky, and last year's surprise Champion Chase runner-up, Funambule Sivola. Peter Fahey's Dunvegan and Alan King's Sceau Royal have also been handed Cheltenham Festival entries.

Champion Chase Result

Position
Name
SP
1st Energumene 6/5f
2nd Captain Guinness 12/1
3rd Greaneteen 25/1

Champion Chase Day Card

Time
Title
Status
Distance
1:30pm Ballymore Novices' Hurdle Grade One 2m 5f
2:10pm RSA Novices' Chase Grade One 3m
2:50pm Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle Grade Three Handicap 2m 5f
3:30pm Queen Mother Champion Chase Grade One 2m
4:10pm Cross Country Chase Class Two Handicap 3m 6f
4:50pm Grand Annual Handicap Chase Grade Three Handicap 2m
5:30pm Champion Bumper Grade One 2m

Champion Chase History

The Champion Chase is the newest of the four Championship race at the Cheltenham Festival. This Grade One chase takes place on day two of the Cheltenham Festival, and is run over a two-mile trip.

The race was renamed in honour of the Queen Mother during the year of her 80th birthday in 1980. The Queen Mother gave a huge amount of time to the sport of horse racing during her lifetime, and came within a whisker of owning a Champion Chaser when her horse, Game Spirit finished second to Skymas in 1976.

Skymas is one eleven two-time winners of the Champion Chase. That illustrious list includes Fortria, Hilly Way, Viking Flagship, Moscow Flyer, Masterminded, Sprinter Sacre and Altior.

Only one horse has managed to win the Champion Chase three times, and that was Michael Dickinson's Badsworth Boy, who secured a hat-trick of wins between 1983 and '85.

Legendary horses like Flyingbolt, Crisp and One Man have all won the Champion Chase. Many horses use the Arkle Challenge Trophy as a stepping stone to the Champion Chase the following year.

Three trainers have won this Championship race six times. The first being Tom Dreaper, who saddled six of the first 11 winners of this great race.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls both have six wins apiece. The great friends and rivals have shared nine of the last 13 runnings between them.

There was barely a dry eye in the house on Ladies' Day in 2016, when ten-year-old Sprinter Sacre rolled back the years and won his second Champion Chase, three years after his first win in 2013.

Gary Moore celebrated a famous win when Sire De Grugy became Champion chaser in 2014. Henry De Bromhead has won the race twice, first with Sizing Europe in 2011, before Special Tiara scored a surprise win in  2016.

Altior won back-to-back Champion Chases in 2018 and '19. With Nicky Henderson's star out injured, Paul Nicholls got back in on the act, as Harry Skelton guided Politologue to victory.

Willie Mullins' Chacun Pour Soi went off in the 2021 Queen Mother as the odds-on favourite, but he was beaten into third by Put The Kettle On, who claimed a surprise win.

Champion Chase Winners

Year
Winner
2023 Energumene
2022 Energumene
2021 Put The Kettle On
2020 Politologue
2019 Altior
2018 Altior
2017 Special Tiara
2016 Sprinter Sacre
2015 Dodging Bullets
2014 Sire De Grugy
2013 Sprinter Sacre
2012 Finian's Rainbow
2011 Sizing Europe
2010 Big Zeb
2009 Master Minded
2008 Master Minded
2007 Voy Por Ustedes
2006 Newmill
2005 Moscow Flyer
2004 Azertyuiop
2003 Moscow Flyer
2002 Flagship Uberalles

Champion Chase FAQs

When is the Champion Chase?

The 2024 Champion Chase will take place at 3:30pm on day two of the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday 13th March.

What is the Champion Chase?

The Champion Chase is the feature Championship race on day two of the Cheltenham Festival. This prestigious Grade One is for chasers and is run over a two-mile trip. The Champion Chase has been won by many of the sports greatest, and is named in honour of the Queen Mother.

Who won the Champion Chase?

Willie Mullins won his second Champion Chase in 2023 as Energumene claimed victory for the second year in a row.

Where can I watch the Champion Chase?

The 2024 Champion Chase will be shown live on ITV Racing. If you want to stream the race live on your mobile or tablet then visit our Live Streaming page for more details.