Majborough and Quilixios essentially took each other on from the moment that they landed at the back of the 1st fence and the fact that each of them ran sub-14s for the opening 3 furlongs is all you need to know when trying to assess if they were going too fast. The ground was drying out and the overall time of 3:51.84, which was the fastest winning time in this race since the 2nd of Sprinter Sacre’s triumphs in 2016, was 7.47s quicker than the TPD expected time for this race. That relies on the going description being “Good to Soft”, but the fact that Il Etait Temps was able to run a time that was faster than expected for “Good” ground is probably testament to how much the conditions had dried out by that stage. That’s a side note and I digress when I should be focussing on the fact that Il Etait Temps was given the perfect opportunity to finish his race. These are my positional notes for the winner “4th at fence 1, back to 5th by fence 3, then 6th at the 5th, still 5th at the ditch, 5th at the top of the hill, begins to close approaching 3rd last, on terms around the turn and leads on the landing side of the last, led last and went away after recovering balance”. So they went too hard in front, that’s one thing, but given the performance that Majborough had put in to win at the Dublin Racing Festival, it took courage to give him a head start and hope that he would come back.

If we use L’Eau du Sud as an example, I think it emphasises my point using the sectional times. Harry Skelton did little wrong in my opinion. He closed down Majborough from halfway and presumably felt if he could get on terms, he could put the favourites jumping under pressure and may well pick up the pieces. It was a solid strategy, but at the pace that Majborough was galloping, despite the mistakes, it didn’t leave a lot left for the climb up the Cheltenham hill. At the halfway stage, Il Était Temps was 0.62s behind L’Eau du Sud. By the time they reached the top of the hill that gap had widened to a second. It’s fine margins but the more patient approach meant that Ill Etait Temps was able to come home strongly and it’s clearly significant that Paul Townend’s mount was the fastest horse in 5 of the last 6 furlong splits, despite an awkward landing after the last fence. Both his late speed (29.38 mph) and his run-out speed (26.40 mph) were over a mile an hour quicker than any of his rivals and even if Majborough had jumped with more fluency, it’s not impossible to think that Il Etait Temps may have been able to reel him in regardless.

There’s a narrative forming around the short-priced favourites getting turned over in the Champion Chase. It has come true once again, but behind those disappointments, there are some outstanding rides. Noel Fehily pressing on down the hill aboard Special Tiara is a favourite of mine, but I could have added Harry Skelton keeping the revs up aboard Politologue or Rachel Blackmore holding Captain Guinness together. Great rides to which Paul Townend aboard Il Etait Temps in 2026 can now be added. I will treat this race with a “glass half full approach”, especially as the winner is a multiple Grade 1 winner in his own right anyway. A brilliant horse, given a brilliant ride by a brilliant jockey.