Champion Chase

The favourite:

Chacun Pour Soi (4/6)

A shorter price than Monkfish and Envoi Allen are for their respective races, Chacun Pour Soi is the hottest favourite of them all. He missed last year’s Champion Chase after an abscess on his foot was discovered on the morning of the race.

This season he has had no setbacks and has looked absolutely brilliant in three outings. Everything looks in place for him to finally give Willie Mullins a first Champion Chase. The doubters will scream “Remember Douvan!’ and point to the fact the horse has never raced at Cheltenham before, but really it’s grasping at straws trying to find a hole in him.

Main opposition:

Like the favourite, Altior was a late scratching from the race last year and the suspicion remains that he is not the force of old. His defeat at Kempton over Christmas was disappointing, even if he was giving 6lb to the winner, Nube Negra. Altior finished distressed and even this week Nicky Henderson admitted the horse has lost “a yard of pace”. I doubt we will see his famous final fence surge again in a race of this calibre.

Politologue did not get much credit for winning last year’s Champion Chase, but this dual Tingle Creek winner sets a fair standard. There is evidence to suggest he did not run to form when totally outpointed by First Flow at Ascot last month and he is great each-way bet at 8/1.

Kempton was ideal for the aforementioned Nube Negra, who has always shown his best form on a flat track, while very soft or heavy ground seems essential for First Flow, whose connections seemed shocked by the manner of his Grade 1 win at Ascot.

Outsiders to note:

Newmill (2006) is the only Champion Chase winner this century to have returned at a price greater than 10/1. This is not a race which throws up shock results but there are a couple of outsiders who look unexposed.

Top of that list is Ibleo (50/1), who was left in both this race and the Ryanair this week. Trained by Venetia Williams, the lightly raced eight-year-old effortlessly won two handicaps on his latest two starts. His new BHA handicap rating of 154 leaves him 15lb behind Altior officially but I think Ibleo has a lot more to come and will surprise a few people if allowed take his chance.

Put The Kettle On (14/1) also deserves a mention. Three runs at Cheltenham, three wins, all with Aidan Coleman on board. She was underestimated when she won the Arkle and connections have not been swayed by the apparently easier option of the new mares’ chase. She was well held in third behind Chacun Pour Soi and Notebook at Christmas, but that’s why you can have 14/1.

Verdict:

You haven’t read this far to be advised to back the 4/6 favourite, as unbeatable as he looks. The best value bet is PUT THE KETTLE ON (14/1). Of the past 10 Arkle Chase winners to run in the Champion the next year, six have won and three finished second. The odd one out was Douvan, who was a 2/9 shot when he injured himself in running before finishing seventh. (MC)