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Queen Mother Champion Chase 2026: Cheltenham Festival Betting Preview
Race Details:
Date: 11 March 2026
Grade: 1
Open To: Five-years-old and up
Track: Turf
Length: 3,199 Metres
Location: United Kingdom
strong>The Highest-Rated Jumper in Training is Odds-On, the Defending Champion is Out, and the Question Nobody Can Answer is Whether Majborough's Jumping Will Hold
Wednesday, 11 March 2026 | 4:00 PM | Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire
BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase | Grade 1 | 2 Miles (1m 7f 199y) | Old Course | 13 Fences | 5yo+
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the purest speed test over fences at the Cheltenham Festival. Two miles, thirteen fences, and the most talented two-mile chasers in training running flat out on the Old Course. Sprinter Sacre won it. Altior won it back-to-back. Moscow Flyer won it twice. Arkle won it before the Gold Cup was even in his sights. This is where the fastest chasers in the game come to prove they belong among the greats, and the 2026 renewal has a storyline that could produce either a coronation or a catastrophe.
Majborough, Willie Mullins' six-year-old, arrives at Cheltenham as the highest-rated jumper in training after demolishing the Dublin Chase field by nineteen lengths at Leopardstown on February 1st. That performance earned a Timeform rating of 179, surpassing even Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs. He is odds-on in every major book. The defending champion, Marine Nationale, was ruled out on March 3rd with a neck injury, removing the only horse who had beaten Majborough's price before the defection. Jonbon, the 2025 runner-up, is heading to Aintree instead of Cheltenham. What was supposed to be a three-way championship clash has become a one-horse race on paper - and yet there is a very real reason why the Queen Mother Champion Chase should never be treated as a formality.
The reason is jumping. Majborough's ability is not in question. His Dublin Chase performance was, in the words of Timeform's Phil Turner, the best performance of the jumps season by any horse. But the same horse finished third in last year's Arkle at this meeting after an error-strewn round of jumping, sent off at 1/2 and beaten by Captain Guinness and Gentleman De Mee. His stablemate El Fabiolo was pulled up as the 2/9 favourite for the 2024 Champion Chase after blundering at the fifth fence on the back of his own Dublin Chase victory. The Mullins yard has been here before with odds-on two-mile chasers at Cheltenham, and the script has not always gone to plan.
Thirteen horses hold entries. A maximum of twelve will oppose the favourite. The race carries a prize fund approaching £400,000 and will be broadcast live on ITV1 in front of a packed Cheltenham grandstand. This is the race that defines the two-mile chase division, and for all that Majborough looks the outstanding candidate, the history of the Champion Chase suggests that the race is never run on paper.
The Ante-Post Market
Time Stamp: Saturday, March 8, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Bet365
Majborough 1.80 (4/5) | L'Eau Du Sud 4.50 (7/2) | Il Etait Temps 5.50 (9/2) | Quilixios 8.00 (7/1) | Jonbon 11.00 (10/1) | Irish Panther 17.00 (16/1) | Only By Night 26.00 (25/1) | Solness 26.00 (25/1) | Captain Guinness 41.00 (40/1) | Found A Fifty 41.00 (40/1)
That market tells the story. Majborough is odds-on and the gap to the second favourite is enormous. Before Marine Nationale's withdrawal on March 3rd, Majborough was 13/8 and Marine Nationale was 5/2. The defending champion's absence and Jonbon's likely non-participation have compressed the entire field into a battle for second place behind a horse who, if he runs to his Dublin Chase form, should win by daylight.
Majborough: The White-Knuckle Favourite
Willie Mullins described Majborough's Dublin Chase performance as "poetry in motion." Mark Walsh, who rode him that day, was equally emphatic. The combination of first-time cheekpieces and more aggressive front-running tactics transformed a horse who had been beaten on his first two starts of the season at Cork and Leopardstown into the most visually impressive two-mile chaser anyone had seen all year. He led from early in the race, jumped with a fluency he had never previously shown in public, and kicked clear turning for home to beat Marine Nationale by nineteen lengths on heavy ground that had required an early-morning inspection.
The Timeform assessment was telling. Phil Turner acknowledged that Majborough was now the highest-rated jumper in training on 179, but added a crucial caveat: the horse is likely to remain "something of a white-knuckle ride" for punters until he produces a string of sure-footed displays similar to the Dublin Chase. The mistakes that proved costly in last season's Arkle, and the fate of stablemate El Fabiolo, who blundered away the 2024 Champion Chase as a 2/9 shot after winning the Dublin Chase, loom large in the background.
At 4/5, the market is saying Majborough is a better-than-even-money chance of winning. That feels about right. His ability is superior to everything else in the field. His form figures of 19 lengths clear of a horse who has won at the last two Cheltenham Festivals are staggering. But two miles at Cheltenham is unforgiving. Thirteen fences at racing pace leave no margin for error. If Majborough jumps like he did at Leopardstown, he wins. If he jumps like he did in the Arkle, he does not. The cheekpieces and the tactical change give genuine reason to believe the Dublin Chase version is the real one, but Cheltenham has a way of asking different questions, and the crowd noise, the pace, and the fences coming thick and fast in the final mile have exposed supposedly elite jumpers before.
Frank Berry, racing manager to JP McManus (who owns Majborough), said after the six-day entries that the horse was in great form and that they were hoping for some moisture in the ground. Mullins confirmed he was very happy with his preparation. Everything points to a peak performance. The only uncertainty is whether the jumping will hold under Championship pressure.
L'Eau Du Sud: The British Hope With Course Form
Dan Skelton's L'Eau Du Sud is the horse most likely to benefit if Majborough has a bad day. The seven-year-old won the Grade 2 Shloer Chase at Cheltenham in November over the same course and distance as the Champion Chase, beating Jonbon convincingly in a performance that immediately marked him as a serious player. That Cheltenham course form is a significant asset - six of the last winners had previously won at the Festival, and the ability to handle the Old Course fences at racing pace is not something that can be replicated at any other track.
The concern is the Tingle Creek. L'Eau Du Sud finished a remote third behind Il Etait Temps and Jonbon at Sandown in December, a performance that suggested the step up in class from Grade 2 to open Grade 1 company might be a bridge too far. Skelton has not run him since, presumably keeping his powder dry for Cheltenham, and the case for L'Eau Du Sud rests on the assumption that his Shloer form is more representative than his Sandown run. At 7/2, he offers obvious each-way value if the favourite misfires, and his Cheltenham record gives him a genuine place chance regardless of what Majborough does.
Il Etait Temps: Brilliant But Bruised
Il Etait Temps was the one-time ante-post favourite for this race before the season began, and his Tingle Creek victory in December was the performance that earned him that status. He beat Jonbon and L'Eau Du Sud in a Grade 1 at Sandown with authority, travelling strongly and jumping with the kind of accuracy that this race demands. On that form, he is a genuine threat to Majborough.
Then came the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January, and everything changed. Il Etait Temps fell heavily when looking beaten, a tired fall that raised questions about both his wellbeing and his confidence heading into Cheltenham. Barry Connell, Marine Nationale's trainer, controversially described the Clarence House as a "Mickey Mouse race" because only two horses finished - Jonbon beat Thistle Ask with Il Etait Temps and Captain Guinness both departing. Connell's point was that the race told us nothing about the Champion Chase, and he may have been right. But the fall itself is a concern. Horses who suffer heavy falls can lose confidence at their fences, and the Champion Chase, with thirteen obstacles at a relentless pace, is not the place to be working through jumping issues. Mullins will know by now whether the horse has put the fall behind him, but punters will not know until the race itself. At 9/2, the market is pricing in significant doubt.
Quilixios: Unfinished Business From 2025
Henry de Bromhead's Quilixios fell at the final fence in last year's Champion Chase when still in contention, an exit that denied connections and punters a proper assessment of where he stands in the two-mile pecking order. The eight-year-old has not been seen since, which is a long absence for any horse heading into a championship race. De Bromhead has confirmed he is set to run, and the trainer's record in this race - four wins, most recently Captain Guinness in 2024 - commands respect. At 7/1, Quilixios is the obvious outsider with claims if the main market principals underperform.
The Others
Irish Panther (16/1) is a lightly raced improver from the Eddie and Patrick Harty yard who has been kept with this race in mind. He lacks the Grade 1 form of the principals but is unexposed in open company and could improve for the step up in class. Only By Night (25/1) finished ahead of Majborough in last year's Arkle and has since been purchased by Robcour. She has been with Gavin Cromwell and could benefit from drying ground, though this would represent a significant step up. Captain Guinness (40/1) is the 2024 winner now ten years old and a shadow of his former self. Found A Fifty (40/1) is a Gordon Elliott runner who finished a distant third in the Dublin Chase and would need massive improvement.
Trends and Statistics
Time Stamp: Saturday, March 8, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Oddschecker / Bet365
The Champion Chase has historically rewarded quality over quantity, and the trends are relatively straightforward.
Favourites have a strong record. Seven of the last thirteen winners were sent off favourite or joint-favourite, and the market has tended to identify the winner accurately in this race. Odds-on shots have a more mixed record - several have been turned over in recent years, including El Fabiolo (2/9, pulled up 2024), Douvan (2/9, 2017 winner), and Chacun Pour Soi (8/13, 2021 winner). Being odds-on is not a guarantee of anything in this race.
Previous Festival form is a major positive indicator. Six of the last winners had previously won at the Cheltenham Festival, and the Arkle Novices' Chase is the most direct route into this race. Sprinter Sacre, Altior, Sizing Europe, and Put The Kettle On all completed the Arkle-Champion Chase double. Majborough ran in the Arkle last year but finished only third. L'Eau Du Sud finished fourth in the same race.
No horse has won this race from a double-digit starting price since Special Tiara at 9/1 in 2017. The outsiders simply do not win the Champion Chase. Ten of the last eleven winners came from the top four in the betting, making this one of the most predictable championship races at the Festival from a market perspective.
Irish-trained horses have dominated in recent years. Seven of the last nine winners were trained in Ireland, with only Politologue (2020) and Dodging Bullets (2015) flying the flag for Britain in that period. Mullins has won it three times (Energumene twice, El Fabiolo's 2024 was a non-runner), de Bromhead four times, and Henderson twice.
The Dublin Chase at Leopardstown has been a significant trial. Energumene used it as a springboard twice, and El Fabiolo won it impressively before his Champion Chase disappointment. Majborough's 19-length Dublin Chase demolition is the best performance from that trial in recent memory - the question is whether it translates to Cheltenham, as it did for Energumene but did not for El Fabiolo.
Race History
The Queen Mother Champion Chase was established in 1959 as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, receiving its present name in 1980 to honour Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on her 80th birthday and to recognise her lifelong support of jump racing. BetMGM currently holds the naming rights. Run over approximately two miles on the Old Course at Cheltenham with thirteen fences to clear, it is the undisputed championship event for minimum-distance chasers and the feature race on Day 2 of the Festival.
The roll of honour reads like a who's who of the greatest chasers in National Hunt history. Arkle won it in 1959 before going on to claim three Gold Cups. Badsworth Boy remains the only triple winner (1983-1985). Moscow Flyer won twice (2003, 2005) in an era of exceptional two-mile chasing. Master Minded's 2008 victory, when he destroyed a strong field by nineteen lengths, remains one of the most visually stunning performances in the race's history. Sprinter Sacre won it in 2013, missed two years through a heart problem, and then produced one of the most emotional comebacks in sport when reclaiming his crown in 2016. Altior won consecutive renewals in 2018 and 2019, extending his unbeaten run to nineteen races. Most recently, Energumene completed a back-to-back double in 2022 and 2023 for Willie Mullins, and Marine Nationale delivered an 18-length demolition of Jonbon in 2025.
The leading trainers in the race's history are Nicky Henderson, Tom Dreaper and Paul Nicholls, each with six victories. The leading jockeys are Pat Taaffe and Barry Geraghty, each with five wins. Willie Mullins has won three of the last four renewals (Energumene twice, Marine Nationale once, with Captain Guinness interrupting for de Bromhead in 2024) and is now seeking a fourth win with Majborough.
Quick Reference: Key Odds
Time Stamp: Saturday, March 8, 2026, 12:00 PM ET
Odds Subject to Change
Source: Oddschecker / Bet365
Majborough 1.80 (4/5) | Trainer: Willie Mullins | Jockey: Mark Walsh
L'Eau Du Sud 4.50 (7/2) | Trainer: Dan Skelton | Jockey: Harry Skelton
Il Etait Temps 5.50 (9/2) | Trainer: Willie Mullins | Jockey: TBC
Quilixios 8.00 (7/1) | Trainer: Henry de Bromhead | Jockey: TBC
Jonbon 11.00 (10/1) | Trainer: Nicky Henderson | Jockey: Nico de Boinville (unlikely to run)
Irish Panther 17.00 (16/1) | Trainer: Eddie & Patrick Harty | Jockey: TBC
Only By Night 26.00 (25/1) | Trainer: Gavin Cromwell | Jockey: TBC
Captain Guinness 41.00 (40/1) | Trainer: Henry de Bromhead | Jockey: Rachael Blackmore
2025 Champion Chase Result
1st Marine Nationale (6.00, 5/1) - Barry Connell / Sean Flanagan
2nd Jonbon (1.83, 5/6f) - Nicky Henderson / Nico de Boinville - 18L
Fell: Quilixios - Henry de Bromhead (fell last fence)
Last 10 Winners
2025: Marine Nationale 6.00 (5/1) - Barry Connell
2024: Captain Guinness 17.00 (16/1) - Henry de Bromhead
2023: Energumene 3.75 (11/4) - Willie Mullins
2022: Energumene 2.50 (6/4f) - Willie Mullins
2021: Put The Kettle On 8.00 (7/1) - Henry de Bromhead
2020: Politologue 4.50 (7/2) - Paul Nicholls
2019: Altior 1.36 (4/11f) - Nicky Henderson
2018: Altior 1.50 (1/2f) - Nicky Henderson
2017: Special Tiara 10.00 (9/1) - Henry de Bromhead
2016: Sprinter Sacre 2.25 (5/4) - Nicky Henderson
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