Cheltenham Festival 2021: Champion Chase preview, runners, odds, date, time, how to watch

Last season’s Champion Chase was expected to be the race of the Cheltenham Festival, but things didn’t quite work out that way.

After Altior and Chacun Pour Soi were ruled out through injury, the third of an apparently heavyweight trio, Defi Du Seuil, was sent off the 2/5 favourite but failed to fire.

Instead, Paul NichollsPolitologue galloped them silly from the front to score a surprise success and while Defi Du Seuil and Altior are both missing from this year’s renewal, Chacun Pour Soi will be gunning for his crown.

Willie Mullins’ charge will likely go off a short-priced favourite, having seemingly put the frgaility that has blighted his career so far behind him to string together a sequence of three successive wins this season, two of them at Grade 1 level, the most recent being the most impressive, at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. 

Politologue began his campaign by winning the Tingle Creek, but he was then handily beaten by First Flow in the Clarence House at Ascot in January. That horse was producing the best performance of his life to date with a bold front-running display under David Bass, while the Dan Skelton-trained Nube Negra comes in with a similar profile, having made good on his potential to win at graded level for the first time in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton at Christmas, with Altior trailing in second. 

Of the others with leading claims, last year’s Arkle winner Put The Kettle On brings bags of course form and will be looking to justify the game decision to head here rather than the new Mares’ Chase, while Sceau Royal’s connections will be praying for the rain to stay away, with decent ground key to his chance. 

When is the Champion Chase?

The Champion Chase will be run at 3:05pm on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, the second day of this year’s Festival.

Champion Chase odds

(Odds provided by Betfair and are subject to change)

  • Chacun Pour Soi 5/6
  • Nube Negra 8/1
  • Put The Kettle On 8/1
  • Politologue 9/1
  • First Flow 14/1
  • Sceau Royal 14/1
  • Cilaos Emery 16/1
  • Rouge Vif 20/1
  • Notebook 28/1
  • Greaneteen 40/1

How to watch the Champion Chase

TV channel: The Champion Chase will be shown live on ITV1 and Racing TV. 

Live stream: TV licence payers can stream the race for free via the ITV Hub website and app. Subscribers can also stream the action via the Racing TV website. 

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