Queen Mother Champion Chase

The Queen Mother Champion Chase was inaugurated, as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, in 1959, but renamed in 1980, by way of celebrating the eightieth birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, who was a staunch supporter of National Hunt racing for over half a century. Run over the official minimum distance of two miles – although, actually, slightly shorter for historical reasons – on the Old Course at Cheltenham and worth £400,000 in prize money, the Queen Mother Champion Chase is the principal steeplechase of its kind in the National Hunt calendar. Not altogether surprisingly, it is the feature race on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival, latterly dubbed ‘Style Wednesday’ by the Jockey Club, in March each year.

The most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase was Badsworth Boy, who won three consecutive renewals in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He was trained on the first two occasions by Michael Dickinson at Poplar House in Harewood, West Yorkshire and on the third, after Dickinson switched to the Flat, by his mother, Monica. The late Tom Dreaper, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls collectively hold the record as the leading trainers in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase with six wins apiece. Although best known as the trainer of the legendary Arkle, Dreaper saddled Flyingbolt, who was rated just 2lb inferior to his illustrious stablemate – and 28lb superior to any other steeplechaser since – according to Timeform, to victory in the two-mile ‘chasing championship in 1966.