Cheltenham Festival Star Horses: Master Minded

Master Minded is the odds on favourite to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival. What is it about Master minded that convinces so many punters that this is the one to back?

Master Minded is just under seven years old and was foaled in France. He is owned by Marie Christine Gabeur and his trainer is Paul Nichols. Always a horse with potential, the real magic began to be revealed when Paul Nichols took the training of him under his wing.

In 2007 Paul Nichols entered him in his first race in England but Master Minded failed badly. Paul Nichols continued to develop him. He improved rapidly and in 2008 he was entered in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Ridden by Ruby Walsh, he won it with a healthy margin of nineteen lengths over the winner of the previous year. Next he was entered at Aintree but got off to a bad start from which he failed to recover.

Famously he won the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown ridden that time by Tony McCoy, followed by winning the Victor Chandler chase at Ascot. Following that race Paul Nicholls said that Master Minded was the best horse he had ever trained.

In 2009 he again won the Queen Mother Champion Chase cementing what a fine horse he is. Will he be able to again clock up a win this year? It is certainly a strong possibility.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase is run over two miles which is turning out to be the sort of length that suits such a fast runner as Master Minded. According to various sources this horse is at the peak of its performance currently which makes him a good Cheltenham Bet. It certainly looks like a banker, even at its current price.