The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online betting company Betway, the race is now known as the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are twelve fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
It is the leading minimum-distance chase in the National Hunt calendar, and it is the feature race on the second day of the Festival.
Video Queen Mother Champion Chase
History
The event was established in 1959, and it was originally called the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It was given its present title in 1980 - the year of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday - in recognition of her support to jump racing. The Queen Mother was a successful owner of National Hunt horses, particularly chasers, and among these was Game Spirit - the runner-up in this race in 1976.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase was not sponsored before 2007, and between 2008 and 2010 it was backed by Seasons Holidays. The sponsor from 2011 until 2013 was online gambling firm Sportingbet. BetVictor held naming rights for the 2014 season before the current sponsor, sports betting company Betway, took over.
Maps Queen Mother Champion Chase
Records
Most successful horse (3 wins):
- Badsworth Boy - 1983, 1984, 1985
Leading jockey (5 wins):
- Pat Taaffe - Fortria (1960, 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Straight Fort (1970)
- Barry Geraghty - Moscow Flyer (2003, 2005), Big Zeb (2010), Finian's Rainbow (2012), Sprinter Sacre (2013)
Leading trainer (6 wins):
- Tom Dreaper - Fortria (1960, 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Muir (1969), Straight Fort (1970)
Leading owner (3 wins):
- George Ansley - Fortria (1960, 1961), Straight Fort (1970)
- Doug Armitage - Badsworth Boy (1983, 1984, 1985)
Winners
- Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".
1 Chinrullah finished first in 1980, but he was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.
2 The 2001 running was cancelled because of a foot-and-mouth crisis. A substitute race at Sandown was won by Edredon Bleu.
See also
- Horseracing in Great Britain
- List of British National Hunt races
- Recurring sporting events established in 1959 - this race is included under its original title, National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase.
References
- Racing Post:
- 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
- 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
- 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
- bbc.co.uk - "Royalty absent and present" (2003).
- cheltenham.co.uk - Media information pack (2010).
- pedigreequery.com - Queen Mother Champion Chase - Cheltenham.
- sportingchronicle.com - Queen Mother Champion Two Mile Steeple Chase Past Winners.
- The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. 1993. p. 231. ISBN 1-873626-15-0.
External links
- Race Recordings [1]
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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