Next week's Cheltenham Festival represents another year and another Champion Chase that looks set to be dominated by the presence of legendary chaser Master Minded.
Paul Nicholls’ superstar put up one of the greatest performances of all time when he cruised to success in the race in 2008 and he returned to defend his crown, not quite as emphatically, in 2009.
At just seven-years-old, he was sent off at 4/5 for last year’s renewal of the two mile feature but the wheels came off on the back of a couple of unconvincing performances. A victim of his own success in 2008 there were many punters left wondering whether he would ever bounce back to the form that saw him deliver one of Cheltenham’s most memorable victories and he was whisked away for a breathing operation last summer.
Luckily for his fans his rehabilitation looks to have gone sensationally well and he has returned to action this season with two breathtaking victories at Ascot and Cheltenham. A sixteen length dismissal of I’msingingtheblues in the Amlin 1965 Chase followed by an eight length victory over Petit Robin in the Tingle Creek looked to have silenced his doubters and he seemed to be back to his very best.
However, the mandatory queue of layers looking to get Master Minded turned over at the Festival were quick to jump on the horse’s back after he and Tony McCoy were forced to fight bravely to hold off the challenge of Somersby in a short-head thrilling finish to the Victor Chandler Chase in January.
That result proved considerably more difficult than many envisaged and McCoy was quick to take the blame for nearly engineering the chaser’s downfall. Whoever’s fault it was Master Minded once again lost the aura of invincibility that surrounds him but trainer Paul Nicholls will not be too upset about having some of the pressure taken off his shoulders.
It must be remembered that there are plenty of emerging talents among his opponents and if the ground were to come up good then defending champion Big Zeb could be mightily hard to beat. There is no getting away from the fact that all Master Minded’s recent victories have been on good-soft ground or softer and if he doesn’t get his way with the forecast, aside from Big Zeb, there is also the likes of Sizing Europe, Golden Silver and Somersby that could all capitalise on the dual Champion Chaser’s misfortune.
However, it would be foolish to forget that Master Minded is the best horse in the race and his electrifying jumping has been foot-perfect this season. He looks to be oozing all the class that has seen him dominate the two mile division for the last four years and his supporters are set to be rewarded at relatively generous odds.
Nick Wilby's selection - Master Minded
