Ladbrokes Champion Chase Tips 2023: Colombe to enhance Gold Cup claims with Down Royal win

We preview the 2023 Ladbrokes Champion Chase, which takes place at Down Royal on Saturday afternoon, and we pick out our best bet for the Grade 1 prize. The race may only have four runners, but looks to be a decent renewal of the 3m event, which is a race that often throws up Cheltenham Gold Cup clues...

It's a week later than planned, but the rescheduled Ladbrokes Champion Chase should be a corking renewal and the hot favourite will be Gordon Elliott's GERRI COLOMBE, who is looking to throw his hat into the Cheltenham Gold Cup ring this season. The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase runner-up can prove to be a cut above his rivals in the 2023 running of this Down Royal event.

He may have failed to reel in The Real Whacker at the Cheltenham Festival in March, but he showed he was a real class act when storming to an emphatic seven-and-a-half length victory in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree a few weeks later. It may been a relatively weak field that day, but Gerri Colombe couldn't have been more impressive and in his second season over fences he's looking to venture into the elite category.

Making his seasonal reappearance on Saturday, the seven-year-old, who has only lost once in his nine races under Rules, will be looking to kick off his campaign with a win and while there will be bigger fish to fry come the spring, the Elliott team will want to start him off with a win. He was a hurdle winner on his last visit to Down Royal and he was hugely progressive last season, so he's more than likely to be capable of beating three rivals, who could potentially have had their better days. While they will pose a few problems, his younger legs should see him comfortably claim victory this weekend.

Former Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo rolled back the years last month when he stormed to an impressive one-and-three-quarter length victory in a Punchestown Grade 3 contest, which was a race that saw Conflated fail to fire. That pair will lock horns once again this weekend at Down Royal and are the next two in the betting, but despite having race fitness on their sides will face an uphill battle to get the better of Gerri Colombe.

Henry De Bromhead's Minella Indo may have kicked off his campaign with a win at Punchestown, but the veteran is certainly not performing at the levels he did a few years ago when he claimed the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2021 and while he will run a solid race he's going to find it tough. An out-an-out stayer, Minella Indo has been pretty inconsistent ever since reigning at the Cheltenham Festival and is one not to trust now back at the highest level and it would be no shock to see Conflated reverse the Punchestown form here.

A former winner of the Irish Gold Cup, Conflated struggled to see out his race at Punchestown, so he's sure to strip fitter for the run and is one that could improve significantly. Another that may not be in the top bracket of chasers alongside the likes of Gerri Colombe and reigning Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs, Conflated could look to get a soft lead out in front, but he may just get gobbled up in the closing stages.

A spectacular winner of the Ryanair Chase in March, Envoi Allen will complete the quartet and while he's shown he is a real top class performer on the big stage he's one that will be looking at the big spring festivals for his big pot of the season. He's arguably one that fails to produce his best over three miles, so he could get outstayed and outclassed by the young gun that can have an ideal prep to a fascinating campaign.