The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the feature race of Day Two (Wednesday) at the Cheltenham Festival – punters will have started looking at ante post betting markets for this race some time ago.
One of the most popular races with bettors as well as the wider racing community, there is a prize fund of £400,000 up for grabs for winning the Champion Chase. The 2021 renewal will be held on Wednesday 13th March.
Altior will head to the 2021 Cheltenham Festival looking to claim back-to-back Champion Chase win. Nicky Henderson’s stable star is an odds-on favourite to defend his crown and punters may be treated to one of the standout performances of the meeting.
The inaugural running of the Queen Mother Champion Chase took place in 1959, some 30 years after the first renewal of the Champion Hurdle. It is now a regular feature at the Cheltenham Festival and fans from all over the world head to Prestbury Park to watch one of the biggest races of the year.
Barry Geraghty is the joint-most successful jockey in the history of this race with five wins; most recently on board the famous Sprinter Sacre back in 2013. Chances are Geraghty’s mount this year will not be near the top of the betting and he will have to use all of his experience to record another Cheltenham Festival winner.
Meanwhile, Henderson will make history as the joint-most Champion Chase winners as a trainer if Altior emerges victorious. Tom Dreaper trained the winner of this race six times in the space of 10 years back in the 1960s – an impressive feat.
Henderson knows just how good Altior is and he almost looks destined to write himself into the history books. With four Champion Chase triumphs in the last seven years, it is hard to back against the five-time British jumps champion trainer.
Altior is well fancied to win the Champion Chase for the second year in a row, with 888sport Cheltenham Festival odds showing him at 4/9 to emerge victorious. He has already beaten most of the field so the form book is strong in his favour.
Footpad and Min, both trained by Willie Mullins, are next up at 6/1. Footpad went five from five last year but has struggled so far this season whilst Min has finished behind Altior at two of the previous three Cheltenham Festival meetings.
A third Mullins runner Un De Sceaux is also available at 10/1 to prevail. This will be his fifth Cheltenham Festival appearance if he goes to post and punters may be tempted to look elsewhere in the each-way betting markets.
Latest Champion Chase 2021 Betting Odds:
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The Queen Mother Champion Chase is Wednesday’s showpiece fixture and our horse racing experts will have an in-depth betting preview ahead of the big race. Be sure to watch our for any Champion Chase updates on the 888sport blog, as well as articles on the Gold Cup betting odds and other major races at the Festival.