Cheltenham Festival 2024: Captain Guinness wins the Champion Chase
Captain Guinness (17-2) went one better than 12 months ago to win the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase on day two of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival as hot favourite El Fabiolo's race ends early.
Henry De Bromhead's nine-year-old – a 10-length second to Willie Mullins' Energumene 12 months ago – battled to victory this year under Rachael Blackmore. It was set up to be a record 100th success at the meeting for Mullins, who had earlier seen Ballyburn and Fact To File bring him a 98th and 99th winner at the Festival, earlier in the day. But after being sent off a long odds-on 2-9 favourite El Fabiolo, last season's impressive Arkle Chase hero, made a crashing mistake earlier in the race and was soon pulled up by Paul Towend. And as Edwardstone and Elixir De Nutz set out to make the running, Blackmore was sitting just off the pace on Captain Guinness. And when the former fell and latter faded, Captain Guinness hit the front. And he battled on to hold the late challenge of another Mullins' runner Gentleman De Mee, under Mark Walsh, who tried to close but was still a length-and-a-half adrift at the line.
De Bromhead and Blackmore had tasted success in the biggest races at the meeting before including the Cheltenham Gold Cup with A Plus Tard and two Champion Hurdles with Honeysuckle as well as famously winning the Randox Grand National together at Aintree Racecourse with Minella Times three years ago. But it was a first victory in the Champion Chase for Blackmore, although a fourth for County Waterford trainer De Bromhead.
De Bromhead, who was having his second winner of the week after Slade Steel, also ridden by Blackmore on the opening day, said: "He’s had a tricky season – at Christmas he had his atrial fibrillation. Anyway, all that was fine, he passed all his tests, and it’s great to see him back. We’ve always said he deserved to win a Grade One so much, and to win this is incredible, so expectations, whenever there’s an odds-on shot… It’s a horse race, you know?
“I’d need to see [where El Fabiolo made a bad mistake and was subsequently pulled up] it again, but Captain Guinness absolutely winged the first few fences, and I just wondered, did he question the favourite a little bit, but I could be wrong. And then the race completely opened up and it was incredible. You just leave it to her [Rachael]. I’ve said it all before, she’s such an incredible rider, and whatever it is about here, she’s amazing here as well, even better – as good as she is everywhere else, she’s even better here. We’ve had some incredible days. When I saw Gentleman De Mee coming at us, I thought, oh no, but he’s such a warrior, he just picked up. We’ve won four of these [Betway Queen Mother Champion Chases] now. You dream of winning races like this. It’s absolutely incredible.
“The horses have seemed well [in the build-up to the Festival] but you never really know for sure until you get out, but they seemed good. All our scopes were good last week, and we’d blood-test all the horses once a month and they were good, but a lot of hard work goes into it, and there’s some team behind us – with us, I should say, not behind us – some team with us, and to get these days is incredible. Captain Guinness is loved round the yard. Sam Cotterill, who looks after him, he [Captain Guinness] has been trying to kill him for the last two weeks – he’s been bucking every day. He’s a legend – we’ve had him since he was four, and he’s a gorgeous horse.”
Blackmore added: "He travelled incredibly and jumped really well. The hill felt like a long hill today! It’s just incredible. I’m so pleased for his owner, Declan Landy. He’s been knocking on the door in these big races, but this is the biggest of his division, so… oh man, it’s unbelievable.”
On De Bromhead’s ability to peak horses at the right time, she said: “He’s incredible, all of his team, it’s unbelievable, it’s a pleasure to be riding them. That’s some race to win.”
While on what it means to win a first Champion Chase, Blackmore added: “It’s incredible, just incredible and I’m so happy to do it on this horse. He always runs his race and he is a really enjoyable horse to ride, enthusiastic. Too enthusiastic here in the Arkle one year and that didn’t go to plan, but his style of running now is a lot more reserved. It’s magic.
“I knew El Fabiolo was out of the equation but there was still quite a long way to go. It does change your brain a little bit, but you are still just trying to ride from fence to fence. The horse in front (Edwardstone) is such a good jumper, but I’m a good jumper as well and I didn’t want him to have it too easy in front. It was a long way up the hill after the last and I was glad when we got to the line. He’s an incredible horse and just fantastic. I’m not shocked, because I thought his day would come but at the same time I can’t believe it came today. Although he was beaten a long way, he ran a really good race here last year behind an incredibly talented horse, and when you are riding for Henry around here this week he does just get them spot on, so I was very, very hopeful coming into the race. I’m just so delighted it’s finally happened, and on the biggest stage of all. It's an incredible race to win. It's unbelievable.”
Winning owner Declan Landy told ITV Racing: “I’m absolutely shocked and delighted. I was just watching Captain Guinness, I couldn’t believe [what happened with] El Fabiolo. I’m shocked, unbelievably shocked, and delighted. It’s going to be hard to sink in, but we are delighted at the same time. Thrilled, absolutely thrilled, for Rachael as well, and the yard and Henry.”
On the disappointing favourite, Mullins said: "I was very concerned that he reached for an early one and then stood back too far at the fence going away from the stands and didn't get high enough."
On runner-up Gentleman De Mee, he added: “He’s run a cracker. I’m delighted for Henry, delighted for Rachael, and our fellow has run a cracker, so we’re delighted."
