Master Minded
Formerly trained in France by Guillaume Macaire, for whom he won three times over hurdles and fences, Master Minded was bought by Clive Smith and transferred to Paul Nicholls in Ditcheat, Somerset in November, 2007. He made an inauspicious start to his British chasing career, blundering and unseating jockey Sam Thomas at the third fence on his debut at Exeter the following month.
Neverthless, having won his next two starts under Ruby Walsh, including the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase at Newbury, Master Minded headed to Prestbury Park for his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival. Sent off 3/1 favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, he readily went clear in the closing stages for an impressive, 19-length victory over Voy Por Ustedes.
By the time the 2009 Cheltenham Festival rolled around, Master Minded had established himself as the dominant force in the two-mile chasing division, adding the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown and the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot to his winning tally with a minimum of fuss. Sent off at a prohibitive 4/11, he had little difficulty is winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase for the second year running, comfortably beating Well Chief by 7 lengths.
Master Minded was actually sent off favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2010 and 2011, but failed to show quite the same sparkle as in previous years, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively. On his retirement from racing, in December, 2011, he had won 16 of his 28 races and over £1.16 million in prize money.
J.P. McManus
Irish billionaire John Patrick McManus, almost invariably known in racing circles as ‘J.P.’, is far and away the most successful owner in the history of the Cheltenham Festival. McManus will always be indebted to his first Festival winner, Mister Donovan, who he later reflected, ‘…got me out of all sorts of trouble’, in what is now the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle in 1982. However, McManus’ famous green and gold hooped silks have since been carried into the winners’ enclosure at Prestbury Park during the March showpiece a total of 67 times.
Of the four main ‘championship’ races run at the Festival, McManus has won the Champion Hurdle a record nine times, the Stayers’ Hurdle three times and the Cheltenham Gold Cup once. Undoubtedly, McManus’ best horse, so far, was Istrabraq, who won the Champion Hurdle three years running in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and, with a Timeform Annual Rating of 180, remains the second highest-rated hurdler, behind only Night Nurse, since the early Sixties.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase, in which McManus finished second with Flagship Uberalles in 2004 and Fota Island in 2006, but has never won, remains one of the few races in which he has yet to triumph. Indeed, he looked to have as genuine a chance as ever in 2020, when his Defi Du Seuil was sent off 2/5 for the two-mile chasing championship, but ran inexplicably badly, trailing in a well-beaten fourth of five.