Queen Mother Champion Chase Guide: Distance, History, Last 10 Winners and the Trends That Hold Up

Quick facts

Live race page, runners and prices: /races/queen-mother-champion-chase.

What the race asks

This is the fastest race of the week. Just short of two miles on the tighter Old Course, with fences coming at racing pace and an early turn for home, it rewards horses that jump accurately at speed and can sustain a strong gallop from the start. The Arkle Challenge Trophy, run over the same course and distance for novices on the Tuesday, is the race's natural feeder: Arkle winners are routinely aimed at the Champion Chase the following season.

History in brief

The race honours Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Our race database records it as first run in 1959 and renamed in 1980; those dates have not yet been verified against a primary source and are flagged as such. The verified ten-year table below is where our published claims begin.

Last 10 winners

Source: Sporting Life official result page (2026), racingbetter.co.uk and Wikipedia (2017–2025). Where a winner's SP is not marked as favourite in our source, we do not assume it was. Rachael Blackmore retired from race-riding on 12 May 2025.

What the table actually shows

Counted only from the ten rows above.

Favourites

Working: three rows carry a favourite marker. Note the caveat — Il Etait Temps (5/2, 2026) and Energumene (5/2, 2022) are not marked as favourites in our sources, and we count only what the source records. Even allowing for that, this is the weakest favourites' record of the four championship races in our tables (Champion Hurdle 7 of 10, Gold Cup 5 of 10, Stayers' Hurdle 2 of 10).

Price bands

Half the winners started at 5/2 or shorter; the other half at 5/1 or bigger. The longest-priced winner is Special Tiara at 11/1 (2017), the shortest Altior at 4/11 (2019).

Trainers and jockeys

Ireland v Britain

Using the trainer bases in our trainer database: Mullins, de Bromhead and Connell train in Ireland (7 wins); Henderson and Nicholls in Britain (3 wins). Britain's three all came in a single spell, 2018–2020.

Repeat winners

Altior (2018, 2019) and Energumene (2022, 2023) each won twice; eight different horses account for the ten runnings. Both dual winners were favourites for at least one of their wins.

What the table cannot tell you

No ages, ratings, going or previous-run form are held, so we publish no trends on them. In particular we have not verified how many of these winners had won the Arkle, so the "Arkle winners go on to win the Champion Chase" line — common elsewhere — is not something this table supports or refutes.

The 2027 picture as of 14 September 2026

We have found no verified third-party ante-post market for the 2027 Champion Chase, so unlike the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle there are no indicative prices to report. The horses on our race page are the 2026 principals: Il Etait Temps (winner), Kargese (2026 Arkle winner) and Kopek Des Bordes (11/8 favourite and runner-up in that Arkle), Jonbon (2/1 favourite and runner-up in the 2026 Ryanair Chase) and Libberty Hunter (50/1 runner-up in 2026). Any prices shown for them are DEMO until a licensed odds feed is connected.

Before you bet: a checklist

1. Jumping at speed: the race is decided by fluent fences as much as by finishing speed; a horse with a history of mistakes at pace is a risk regardless of price.
2. Market position: favourites have the weakest record of the four championships here — 3 of 10 marked favourites — while 5 of 10 winners were 5/1 or bigger.
3. Novice form: the Arkle is the same course and distance; Kargese and Kopek Des Bordes fought out the 2026 edition.
4. Ante-post terms: with no verified market yet, there is no price to judge. Wait for the ante-post market to form.
5. Each-way: 8+ runners in a non-handicap pays three places at 1/5 odds under standard terms — do the arithmetic first.

This is analysis, not a tip. 18+. BeGambleAware.org.