The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a race which I have been lucky to win five times, most recently in 2015 with Dodging Bullets.
Wednesday’s contest still looks good despite Altior sadly missing out, with the exciting young chasers Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi entered, but my two entries, Politologue and Dynamite Dollars, are no back numbers.
Politologue has been a great servant for owner John Hales and the fact this will be his fifth run at the Festival shows just how tough he is. In this race last year, he ran very well when just beaten by Altior.
His preparation has been good and don’t forget he gave 3lbs to the favourite, Defi Du Seuil, at this track in November when beaten just under two lengths.
He was disappointing in the Tingle Creek, but if you forgive him that run, he has an each-way chance.
My other runner, Dynamite Dollars, is a horse I’ve always liked. He is a Grade One winner over fences and only tasted defeat once in his novice season.
He had a tendon issue, which we gave him plenty of time to recover from, and he showed the benefits of that with a great run behind Altior at Newbury last month. He has come on for that and has a decent chance of making it into the places.
I won back-to-back runnings of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2015-16 and I like my two this year. Mick Pastor has impressed since joining me from France, while Thyme White is a fine, big horse who should settle nicely in a big field like this.
