Master Minded retains title on big day for Walsh

Published on Wednesday 11 March 2009 22:30

MASTER Minded successfully defended his Seasons Holidays Champion Chase crown at Cheltenham to become the first horse since Viking Flagship in 1995 to retain the two-mile championship.

The 'wow factor' of his devastating 19-length romp 12 months ago may have been missing, but the highest-rated horse in training, sent off the 4-11 favourite, still treated the National Hunt diehards to a masterclass in jumping.

It sealed a memorable day for jockey Ruby Walsh, who won three races in a row on well-backed favourites to take his Festival tally to four, prompting bookmakers to describe the second instalment of the meeting as a " horror day." David Williams of Ladbrokes admitted: "At half time in the Festival we're on the ropes. Ruby has cost us millions. He's the pied piper of the punters."

Walsh – who in the previous two races had ridden Cooldine (9-4) and Mikael D'haguenet (5-2) to victory – always had Paul Nicholls' exciting young chaser handily placed and moved the slick jumper into contention at the top of the hill on the far side of the track.

The Clive Smith-owned favourite then brushed aside Petit Robin at the second-last, moving through the gears with Rolls Royce-like precision to open up a seven-length advantage at the line. Well Chief, having his first start for 698 days and belonging to the former Holy Trinity of two-mile chasers which included Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop, moved up with menace three-out but a slight mistake over the obstacle saw him lose vital ground.

As his legions of fans have come to expect, though, the ten-year-old gathered himself up and came with a renewed effort to claim a heart-warming second, with Petit Robin finishing third.

Master Minded now joins an elite club of horses to have won the Champion Chase more than once. Members include the likes of Barnbrook Again, Badsworth Boy and Fortria.

More importantly, he provided champion trainer Paul Nicholls with his first winner of the 2009 Festival.

Nicholls said: "He made it look very easy and hopefully we can bring him back next year to win it again.

"He jumps great and does everything really well, but what a wonderful run by Well Chief. There was a lot of pressure and he was a short-priced favourite so we just wanted to try and get him here in top form.

"He is only six so we want to look after him so we can come back next year."

Bookmakers offer only 1-2 that he will return and complete the Queen Mother hat-trick, and while his second crown was not as impressive as the 2008 performance, Nicholls insisted: "At the end of the day I am not interested in winning races by 20 lengths as I want to look after him. We are learning about him all the time and I want to leave plenty in the tank for future years."

Walsh added: "He's the best chaser around, as I'd say he wasn't as good today as he can be. He got worked up in the parade and the false starts were messy.

"What makes him so good is that good horses always win on an off-day."

For his owner it was another marvellous afternoon and further glory is possibly around the corner with his Kauto Star out to justify favouritism in tomorrow's totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.