Queen Mother Champion Chase
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The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom for five-year-old and above horses. It is run over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 metres) at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. There are twelve fences to be jumped in the race.
The race was first run in 1959 as the Champion Chase. The Queen Mother's name was added to the title in 1980, the year of her 80th birthday as a mark of appreciation to Her Majesty for her unwavering support for the annual festival.
Before 2007 the race was not sponsored, but since then it has been run with the sponsored title of the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Contents |
[edit] Records
- Most successful horse - Badsworth Boy, 3 wins (1983, 1984, 1985)
- Most successful jockey - Pat Taaffe, 5 wins (1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1970)
- Most successful trainer - Tom Dreaper, 6 wins (1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1970)
- Most successful owner - George Ansley (1960, 1961, 1970), Doug Armitage (1983, 1984, 1985), 3 wins each
- Oldest winning horse - Skymas, aged 12 (1977)
- Youngest winning horse - Master Minded, aged 5 (2008)
- Longest odds winner - Another Dolly, 33/1 (1980)
- Shortest odds winner - Flyingbolt, 1/5 (1966)
- Largest field - 13 runners (1999)
- Smallest field - 5 runners (1961, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1985)
[edit] Winners
- Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
| 1959 | Quita Que | 10 | Bunny Cox | Dan Moore |
| 1960 | Fortria | 8 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1961 | Fortria | 9 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1962 | Piperton | 8 | Dave Dick | Archie Thomlinson |
| 1963 | Sandy Abbot | 8 | Stan Mellor | George Owen |
| 1964 | Ben Stack | 7 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1965 | Dunkirk | 8 | Peter Cazalet | Dave Dick |
| 1966 | Flyingbolt | 7 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1967 | Drinny's Double | 9 | Frank Nash | Bob Turnell |
| 1968 | Drinny's Double | 10 | Frank Nash | Bob Turnell |
| 1969 | Muir | 10 | Ben Hannon | Tom Dreaper |
| 1970 | Straight Fort | 7 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1971 | Crisp | 8 | Paul Kelleway | Fred Winter |
| 1972 | Royal Relief | 8 | Bill Smith | Edward Courage |
| 1973 | Inkslinger | 6 | Tommy Carberry | Dan Moore |
| 1974 | Royal Relief | 10 | Bill Smith | Edward Courage |
| 1975 | Lough Inagh | 8 | Sean Barker | Jim Dreaper |
| 1976 | Skymas | 11 | Mouse Morris | Brian Lusk |
| 1977 | Skymas | 12 | Mouse Morris | Brian Lusk |
| 1978 | Hilly Way | 8 | Tommy Carmody | Peter McCreery |
| 1979 | Hilly Way | 9 | Mr Ted Walsh | Peter McCreery |
| 1980 | Another Dolly * | 10 | Sam Morshead | Fred Rimell |
| 1981 | Drumgora | 9 | Frank Berry | Arthur Moore |
| 1982 | Rathgorman | 10 | Kevin Whyte | Michael Dickinson |
| 1983 | Badsworth Boy | 8 | Robert Earnshaw | Michael Dickinson |
| 1984 | Badsworth Boy | 9 | Robert Earnshaw | Michael Dickinson |
| 1985 | Badsworth Boy | 10 | Robert Earnshaw | Monica Dickinson |
| 1986 | Buck House | 8 | Tommy Carmody | Mouse Morris |
| 1987 | Pearlyman | 8 | Peter Scudamore | John Edwards |
| 1988 | Pearlyman | 9 | Tom Morgan | John Edwards |
| 1989 | Barnbrook Again | 8 | Simon Sherwood | David Elsworth |
| 1990 | Barnbrook Again | 9 | Hywel Davies | David Elsworth |
| 1991 | Katabatic | 8 | Simon McNeill | Andrew Turnell |
| 1992 | Remittance Man | 8 | Jamie Osborne | Nicky Henderson |
| 1993 | Deep Sensation | 8 | Declan Murphy | Josh Gifford |
| 1994 | Viking Flagship | 7 | Adrian Maguire | David Nicholson |
| 1995 | Viking Flagship | 8 | Charlie Swan | David Nicholson |
| 1996 | Klairon Davis | 7 | Francis Woods | Arthur Moore |
| 1997 | Martha's Son | 10 | Rodney Farrant | Tim Forster |
| 1998 | One Man | 10 | Brian Harding | Gordon W. Richards |
| 1999 | Call Equiname | 9 | Mick Fitzgerald | Paul Nicholls |
| 2000 | Edredon Bleu | 8 | Tony McCoy | Henrietta Knight |
| no race 2001 * | ||||
| 2002 | Flagship Uberalles | 8 | Richard Johnson | Philip Hobbs |
| 2003 | Moscow Flyer | 9 | Barry Geraghty | Jessica Harrington |
| 2004 | Azertyuiop | 7 | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
| 2005 | Moscow Flyer | 11 | Barry Geraghty | Jessica Harrington |
| 2006 | Newmill | 8 | Andrew J. McNamara | John Joseph Murphy |
| 2007 | Voy Por Ustedes | 6 | Robert Thornton | Alan King |
| 2008 | Master Minded | 5 | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
* Chinrullah finished first in 1980 but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.
* The 2001 race was cancelled because of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis.
[edit] Notes
- 1971 - Crisp went on to finish second to Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National having led for almost the entire race.
- 1998 - Brian Harding's winning ride on One Man subsequently won the Lester Award for "Jump Ride of the Year".
