Queen Mother Champion Chase is a National Hunt race which takes place annually at the Cheltenham racecourse in England. The race covers a total distance of 3, 199 metrse, equivalent to 1 mile 7 furlongs. The Grade 1 race is sponsored by an online betting company called Betway. Due to that, it has been re-named to the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. The race is strictly meant for horses aged five years and above. While racing, the horses jump over a total of twelve hurdles. It was inaugurated in 1959, and has since then remained the highlight
of Cheltenham Festival, regularly drawing huge crowds from all over the country.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase was initially known as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It gained its present name in 1980, on the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother. She was the owner of National Hunt race horses, among them being Game spirit, who emerged second in the 1976 race. It was until 2008 when the race became sponsored by Seasons Holidays. Sportingbet.BetVictor became its second sponsor between 2011 and 2013. In 2014, BetVictor took over the sponsorship program before the current sponsor, the Betway stepped in. Badsworth Boy remains the most successful horse in the race, with a total of 3 wins, the first one being in 1983, second one in 1984 and the third one in 1985. The leading jockey is Pat Taafe, with a total of five wins.
This year, the race was won by a racehorse named Altior, followed by Min and God’s Own in the second and third positions respectively. In 2016, jockey Nico de Boinville won the race, having been trained by Nicky Henderson. In 2017, Henry de Brodhead emerged the winner. This came as a surprise to most people. The prize money for Queen Mother Champion Chase has increased from 227,800 Euros in the past to today’s 400,000 Euros, which is some quid!