Champion Chase Betting Guide

"Realistically I don't expect he'll run again before Cheltenham. I would imagine he'd run in either the Champion Chase or the Ryanair. We are aiming for the two-mile-five conditions chase at Ascot first but he would not run if the ground was at all on the soft side, so the likelihood is he won't run. I expect he's going to end up at Cheltenham without running before which is what he did last year. He ran extremely well in the Arkle although he just got beat."

"His preparation for the Cesarewitch a week on Saturday has gone without a hitch, and I think he's got a really good chance off the same mark - 88 - as when coming second in the Chester Cup. The form of that race worked out well, with the third winning at Royal Ascot and the fourth going on to be second in a Group 2, and I have thought for a long time that Fair Along is good enough to win a decent handicap on the Flat; another Cesarewitch would do very nicely. After Newmarket, the plan is the Haldon Gold Cup, where he would have to go close off a mark of 154 to go on to the Tingle Creek at Sandown. After he was second in the Arkle to My Way De Solzen and second to Twist Magic at Aintree, will he be up to tackling the best two-milers at levels? Quite possibly, as he only has to improve a further few pounds. Will he ultimately need further than 2m this season? I think he will. The evidence from Aintree and Cheltenham is not conclusive, as in both races he had bad starts, in the Arkle especially, and that put him on the wrong foot right from the beginning on each occasion. Once last season we tried him over 2m5f at Cheltenham and he would have stayed had we not made quite so much use of him."

"He has jumped to the right in the past and he was in front a long way before the last, which probably contributed to him going right at the last, but he's a very decent horse and he stuck to his job well."

"Davy gave him a great ride and the horse put up a lovely performance. He was foot-perfect but was a bit lazy in front and ran down the final fence - but I wouldn't read too much into that. He is better going right-handed but he can go left-handed, and he will be even better in a better race. We will go to Ascot now and we'll look forward to taking on Twist Magic. The track will suit and tell us where we stand for the Queen Mother. He is the perfect animal and has a great constitution."

"Considering it was his first start of the season, and that he was going two and a half miles on very testing ground, I'm very happy with him. He just got tired in the straight and that wasn't a surprise. He will drop back in trip in the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown on 27 Dec and then we will have a look at the Victor Chandler."

"He had shown a lot of improvement at home between when he ran at Sandown and we he ran last week. He's got loads of pace, he jumps and he is a horse with a huge amount of talent as you could see last week. If anything, with his jumping, he was slightly brave. At Exeter it caught him out but at Sandown he learned an awful lot. We have done quite a lot of work with him at home over poles and barrels just to get him to arch his back, and as you saw last week he looked a completely different horse. He's got a great technique and lots of scope and now he's got used to our fences he should be fine. Good ground shouldn't be a problem. He had been doing some sensational work at home, for a five-year-old he improved enormously. His jumping and everything just seemed to come together. He won really nicely at Newbury and while we were getting six pounds from the runner-up, I don't think the weight made any difference. He jumped and travelled nicely and is right in the picture for the Champion Chase. He could even have improved from Newbury, people who have been riding him since are convinced he has."

"He jumped brilliantly and he's still a novice in effect. We weren't going to ride him like that but they went no gallop and he bowled along. I'd love to run him in the Champion Chase but he'd only go there if the ground was OK. If it was fast I wouldn't want to risk him as I think he'll be even better next year. It is highly likely he'll run and he wouldn't go for the Ryanair. Twist Magic goes for the Champion too and I still think he's the one they have got to beat."

"The emphasis is on the future, as he's only just five. We are pleased he got the chance of a clear round and a bit further than two miles may suit. He will now go to the Game Spirit Chase (at Newbury) so we can see how good we are."

"Newmill is still in both races (Champion Chase and Ryanair) because we want to see which way the opposition is looking and to study them, but our preference would be the Queen Mother. He is A1 now after Punchestown, not a bother and in good form. He's fine with no repercussions and thankfully in one piece. He's ready for his next step now. Once again it wasn't his ground there (heavy), although it's difficult finding the perfect race and we thought it was our only chance to run him. Now the ground looks like it might be good at Gowran at the weekend, but who's to tell the weather forecast and we went the Tied Cottage road. I am really looking forward to some good ground as he is his true self on that and can show his speed and excels on it as everybody knows and he'll be right on the day."

“Newmill will also be entered in the Champion Hurdle, but we are favouring the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He's fine and in great form after Fairyhouse. Obviously it wasn't his ground that day, but we were frustrated into getting a run into him, and all my horses were under a bit of a cloud then, although all is well now. I am definitely confident that he is as good as when he won the Queen Mother Champion Chase before. He didn't win it last year and has got a bit written-off. But he still ran a cracker because the race didn't go his way as he found himself out in front. He was only beaten nine lengths, which is no bad effort in a championship race.”

"We thought he may have hurt himself as he ran into a post when loose but he was sound the next day and didn't do himself any damage. He is a nice and fresh and while he hasn't proved himself this year, he was probably going to win last time. He is likely to go for the Champion Chase as he has a lot of weight in the Grand Annual (11-12)."

"He has run a decent race first time back. He might have finished third but for the mistake. The trip will suit him better in the Dial-A-Bet, which is the plan."

"We've always known Tamarinbleu was very good, but at Aintree in the spring he was disappointing. We decided to try blinkers, and he improved to run third over hurdles to Abragante and we knew that was the right route. His performance at Cheltenham was something else. It takes a very good horse to win like he did off a mark of 150. And I was glad Denis [O'Regan] was only keeping the saddle warm for me. At Ascot he was extremely impressive. I've watched the replays and sure, Twist Magic was travelling very easily behind us as far as Swinley Bottom, and yes, on the day we outstayed him on that stiff track and over two miles and a furlong. But we had him beat well before the two-mile point, and some other real good two-milers couldn't lay up with us. He is just a pleasure to be on, no quirks or hang-ups, but the way he jumps, you don't quite realise the astonishing ability he has at the time. It's only when you look at it afterwards you realise just how far he's landing over the fence, the ground he must be making in the air. It's a great thrill to ride him. He is so versatile that wherever he goes at Cheltenham, he will be there with a very good chance on the day.”

"I made a mistake in running him at Ascot just after Christmas when the ground was very testing and won't be doing that next year. He comes to hand really well and I have always felt he is a spring and autumn horse. He loves better ground, he really benefits from getting some help from it. He will be suited by a fast-run Champion Chase which it looks like being. If Fair Along and Tamarinbleu both run they will go a fair old gallop and that will suit my horses. Cheltenham soft isn't quite like Ascot soft but he would be better on good ground. It is highly likely Ruby will ride Master Minded and Sam Thomas Twist Magic but nothing at all is set in stone. Twist Magic will have a fair old spring campaign and I have an idea to run him at Punchestown and then come back to Sandown for the big race there at the end of the season."

“Ruby said to me that he’ll win the Champion Chase as long as the ground’s decent. Because he got away with it at Sandown you’re tempted to think he was going to get away with it today. I was nervous, and knowing what I know now he definitely won’t run on that ground again, as simple as that. Decent ground at Cheltenham and a different track will be much better for him. I was very nervous before Sandown, where it was soft but not nearly as bad as this, and, while, in hindsight, we should have pulled out today, it was a Grade 1 chase and it is not our style to duck a challenge. He'll now go straight to Cheltenham, and, while I congratulate David on nicking a good prize, it will be a whole different ball-game on March 12."

"Obviously, I was really concerned about the ground because as a young horse, he didn't like it. He is obviously older and more mature now and the horse are flying, which helps. If anything I thought he was in front too soon and I was worried that he was going to idle a bit. But he jumped so well and travelled so well that he just took Sam there - it was a really good performance. It wasn't an ideal place to be in front on him and a better-run race will suit him even better. We might just give him one run in the Game Spirit before the Champion Chase."

"He travelled so well and jumped awesome. He's so much scope and had probably taken me there sooner than I wanted. He's a proper horse and the ground was not an inconvenience to him at all. He's done it nicely."

"I'm training him as a Queen Mother Champion Chase horse. We'll never know what might have happened in the Arkle; he was going every bit as well as the winner, My Way De Solzen, when falling two out. But at least he made amends in impressive style at Aintree. He goes very well fresh, and the plan is to go straight to Exeter on November 6 and take on Voy Por Ustedes in the Haldon Gold Cup. He gets a handy 11lb from Alan King's horse, so if we've got Champion Chase pretensions, he should run well there. My only slight reservation about Exeter is I suspect he's better going left-handed. He's not a horse who wants too much racing, so we'll pick his targets carefully; ideally he likes a nice gap in between his races. If all goes well at Exeter, the Tingle Creek could be the next stop."

“The horse is fine and it wasn't a disgrace. I'm still looking forward to Cheltenham with him. To be honest, we were perfectly close enough at the cross-fence. Ideally, he'd have liked a stronger pace, but it was the same for all of them. We were only half a length down at the cross-fence and Master Minded has gone away from him. Hopefully, there will be a stronger pace at Cheltenham, which would suit. It's just a bit frustrating when your good horse gets beat, but he was beaten by the better horse. It's a very competitive business and we all like to win.”

"That's just what was wanted. It was frustrating to get nailed in the Welsh National, but I'm just pleased to get this boy back winning again. Cheltenham in March is a long way off: Voy Por might have been slightly sharper today than he was at Sandown but there is no question that he was beaten by a better horse on the day in the Tingle Creek. Mine is probably a better horse at Cheltenham, but he's a lot better on better ground."

"I've no excuses and he's done everything right. He has been beaten by a better horse on the day and I think he's run a marvellous race and he's beaten Monet's Garden further than he did in the Arkle. We'll stick to the same plan now which is Kempton, Newbury and then Cheltenham."

"He's in smashing form and certainly looks stronger than last season. He came back in earlier with a view to getting a run into him before the Tingle Creek, in which he made his reappearance 12 months ago, but it's all gone slightly pear-shaped due to the fast ground. He's been entered for the 2m handicap chase at Cheltenham on Sunday, but that's not ideal off 169; there's also the Peterborough Chase to consider, but that's too close to Sandown. We may end up taking him for a racecourse gallop somewhere. In past seasons he'd come to the boil very quickly at home, and it could cause a problem having to reshape our plans, but he seems more relaxed nowadays. After the Tingle Creek, I'd like to follow the same route as last season - Desert Orchid, Game Spirit and the Champion."