Day Two is when the Champion Chase takes place.
This is another prestigious race, which is run over two miles on the old course over fences. This race kicks off on Wednesday, 10th March at 4.00 pm.
The winner of the Champion Chase gets a huge prize pot of £225,080. Similar to the Champion Hurdle, this race is open to horses aged five or older and allows novices, but more experienced horses normally contest it.
Cheltenham 2026: Champion Chase History
Outside of the Gold Cup, I think the Champion Chase has been the race I've always enjoyed watching the most. What's better than watching the best and fastest two-mile horses flying around Cheltenham? We've seen a lot of superstar horses win this race, and I'm hoping we can find another in this race this year.
Unlike the Champion Hurdle, this race came to the festival much later. The first running was in 1959, and it was originally called the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. In 1980, the name was changed to its current variation: Queen Mothers' Champion Chase, as this was the year of the Queen Mother's 80th Birthday.
There has only ever been one three-time winner of the Champion Chase, and that horse was Badsworth Boy, who won between 1983 and 1985. Barry Geraghty and Pat Taaffe are the most successful jockeys, both winning it five times. As for the leading trainer(s), this is a three-way tie. Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Tom Dreaper have all won it six times.
We've seen some amazing horses win this race. A few to mention, which will bring back the nostalgia, are Master Minded (2008, 2009), Sprinter Sacre (2013, 2016), and Moscow Flyer (2003, 2005). The list is endless, but we've had some cracking races over the years.
In recent years, this race has been the graveyard for favourites. In the last 25 years, there have been 12 odds-on favourites, but only three have won.
Cheltenham 2026: Champion Chase top picks
Arguably, one of the biggest horses in training in terms of size is Majborough, and he is your odds-on favourite for the Champion Chase. This lad has always had tonnes of ability, but his jumping has been his main issue over hurdles and fences. This term, it looks like he's got his act together, and if he can have a clean round of jumping, he should become a Champion Chase winner. However, we know it's not always that straightforward.
Willie Mullins has Il Etait Temps in this race, in case things don't go to plan with Majborough. If he turned up to this race without the recent fall at Ascot, and he went straight to Cheltenham on the back of his thrashing of Jonbon in the Tingle Creek, it would be very interesting to see how the market would be. However, he didn't look happy from an early stage at Ascot, and did fall two from home when he looked beaten. He's not out of this, and if the real Il Etait Temps turns up, this could be very interesting.
Sharing second spot in the market is L'Eau du Sud from the Dan Skelton yard. He also gave Jonbon a battering of 15 lengths at this track in November, and that performance gives him a squeak if the other two don't perform. He was comfortably behind Il Etait Temps in the Tingle Creek, without a noticeable excuse. Dan is a very capable trainer and has decided to keep him fresh for this run, which could be key.
Cheltenham 2026: Champion Chase outsiders
Whether Quilixios has had a few setbacks this year, or the plan was to arrive at Cheltenham fresh and have a crack at the spring festivals, I'm not sure. He has got Cheltenham form in the past, so it doesn't look to be a bad plan if he has been fine and they want him fresh. He put in a career-best performance in this race last year when he fell late on, when booked for second spot. Earlier in his career, he won the Triumph in good fashion, and we know Cheltenham form is big. He has got better with age, so I can't put you off from backing him each-way.
Irish Panther is a very interesting runner. You don't see many novices run in this race, as the Arkle is deemed to be a much easier assignment, but connections have decided to go for it. If he were to cause a huge upset, he'd have to go against history. From what I understand, the last novice to win this race was Flyingbolt in 1966! In all fairness, his form has worked out better than I thought it would, with a second to Romeo Coolio being franked by Kargese winning the Arkle on day one.
Cheltenham 2026: Champion Chase going
Knowing how well Cheltenham has drained over the winter, I can't see the track deteriorating much with a couple of millimetres of rain expected to fall.
We had a lot of rain over the winter, yet the track is deemed to be good to soft, good in places. I'd like to think that the track will be riding the same as day one. The worst-case scenario is that the good in places will be removed, but I don't see that happening.
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