Il Etait Temps wins Champion Chase as Majborough’s jumping costs him again

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day two of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, which will have to go some to match the quality of racing on day one. 

The day’s championship race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, with Willie Mullins-trained Majborough firm favourite. He has the engine to run away from rivals Il Etait Temps and L’Eau du Sud but needs to prove he can execute over hill and dale at Cheltenham. Majborough was well-placed to win last year’s Arkle when he made a shuddering jumping error at the second-last, with Jango Baie flying up the hill to win.

The addition of cheekpieces this season is believed to have settled Majborough’s jumping, and as we saw in the Arkle yesterday, very often the best jumper rather than the speediest horse wins these two-mile chases. They go at a frightening gallop, and jumping is tested to the maximum, making the race a graveyard for favourites in recent years. In five of the last six renewals there has been a beaten odds-on favourite, with Altior the last odds-on shot to prevail.

The day starts with the two-and-a-half-mile Turners Novices’ Hurdle, where the Irish will look to avenge Britain’s 1-2-3-4 in yesterday’s Supreme. Talk the Talk and El Cairos were very disappointing, and over the longer trip Sober, King Rasko Grey, Sortudo and Ballyfad will want to improve on their efforts. They will need to beat favourite No Drama This End, the Challow Hurdle winner about whom Paul Nicholls has been very bullish all season. Much like Majborough, there is a bad omen to lay to rest. Prior to The New Lion last year, the previous 21 winners of the Challow who ran in this race at Cheltenham failed to win; nine finished second or third. Nicholls has also never trained the winner of this race.

Also on the card is the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, where Romeo Coolio takes a significant step up in trip. We also have the ever-competitive Coral Cup (now the BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle), the Grand Annual and the Champion Bumper, a race dominated by Willie Mullins.