Cheltenham: Majborough expected to be a heavy favorite again in Queen Mother Champion Chase
For a gelding with four wins in seven starts in steeplechases, Majborough has not always been friendly to bettors. He has lost at odds of 1-2, 4-6 and 3-2 and has never paid more than 2-1 to win.
Majborough is expected to be an odds-on favorite in Wednesday’s Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse in western England, the main race on the second of four days of the Cheltenham festival for hurdlers and steeplechasers.
The $536,200 Queen Mother Champion Chase is Majborough’s third start at Cheltenham for Irish trainer Willie Mullins.
In 2024, Majborough won the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle at 2 1/8 miles for 4-year-olds in his final start over those obstacles. Switched to steeplechasing for the 2024-2025 season, Majborough was only third of five in the Grade 1 Arkle Chase for novices at Cheltenham last March at 1-2 in a performance plagued by jumping errors.
This season, Majborough has won once in three starts, a 19-length victory in the Grade 1 Dublin Chase at 2 1/8 miles at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Feb. 1.
Majborough beat a strong field. Marine Nationale, winner of the 2025 Queen Mother Chase, finished second. Energumene, a 12-year-old who won the Queen Mother Chase in 2022 and 2023, was a well-beaten fourth. Neither are starting on Wednesday. Marine Nationale was withdrawn last week by trainer Barry Connell because of a sore neck believed to have been caused when the 9-year-old became cast in his stall.
Wednesday’s Queen Mother drew a field of 10, with the Mullins-trained Il Etait Temps and L’Eau du Sud, trained in England by Dan Skelton, considered capable of winning.
Il Etait Temps, third in the 2024 Arkle in his last appearance at Cheltenham, has had mixed form this year. He won two major races in the two-mile chase division in Ireland and England in November and December, but fell two fences from the finish in the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Jan. 17. Il Etait Temps was the 2-9 favorite in a field of four.
L’Eau du Sud, co-owned by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, won the Grade 2 Shloer Chase at two miles at Cheltenham in March and was third behind Il Etait Temps in his only subsequent start, the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Trophy at Sandown Park outside of London in early December. L’Eau du Sud is trained in England by Dan Skelton.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the fourth of seven races on a program that begins at 9:20 a.m. Eastern or 6:20 a.m. Pacific.
The first two races are Grade 1 that drew massive fields of 22 and 16 entrants.
The $201,000 Turners Novices’ Hurdle at 2 5/8 miles has 22 entrants, a stark increase compared to a field of 11 last year. The race last drew 20 runners in 2005.
With such a big field, there is a robust betting market. No Drama This End, a winner of his last three starts for English trainer Paul Nicholls, was the 5-1 favorite on Monday, with Ballyfad and King Rasko Grey at 13-2.
Ballyfad is an appealing prospect in the longest race of his career. Trained by Gordon Elliott, Ballyfad has won 3 of 4 starts, with the loss a second by a short head to Talk the Talk in a novices’ hurdle at two miles at Leopardstown on Feb. 1. Talk the Talk is a contender in a novices’ hurdle at 2 1/16 miles at Cheltenham on Tuesday.
Romeo Coolio was a slight favorite at 4-1 over 9-2 Kaid d’Authie for the $278,100 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at 3 1/8 miles. The race has 16 entrants, which would be its largest field since 15 ran in 2014.
Romeo Coolio, trained by Elliott, is undefeated in four starts in chases, all in Ireland since late October. He can be effective as a stalker. Kaid d’Authie, trained by Mullins, has won 2 of 3 starts in chases in Ireland.
This will be Kaid d’Authie’s longest race. He is often handy or near the front.
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