Champion Chase: Ruby Walsh selects a big-priced Cheltenham tricast

Following the Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Saturday, Ruby Walsh spoke on the latest episode of Paddy Power’s ‘From the Horse’s Mouth’ podcast about Il Etait Temps and his previous Cheltenham form. He also picked out a tricast in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

What did you make of the Clarence House at the weekend, Ruby?

Funny one. I saw him [Il Etait Temps] going down, I never thought that he wouldn’t get up, it looked a really tired fall and he just fell over and he was on the ground then regaining his breath.

It’s a funny one, you’d love to see them get up quicker or get them up quicker - if you imagine an athlete going by the line in a marathon or you see a cyclist, probably more so, and they come off the bike, the first thing they do is they pick them up.

Obviously it’s very hard to pick a horse up, but you don’t let an athlete lie down to recover to regain his breath. You try and get him back on his feet and moving, so he gets his breath back.

But it’s very hard to lift a horse, but you’d love to be able to get him up quicker, to get them walking to regain their breath.

That’s by the by - I wasn’t so sure looking at him in the paddock, I thought he was too quiet.

I think it was Sally Ann (Grassick) who was doing the paddock pictures (for ITV) I was looking at, and she was actually commenting on how relaxed he was.

And I was kind of thinking ‘Jeez, he’s very quiet’. But I thought he never rose a gallop, he was going to the first fence and I was watching him with Gillian and I said ‘Jesus, he doesn’t need a hood, he needs the opposite to a hood.'

He never rose a gallop - you could see Paul, even after they jumped three fences turning right down to Swinley Bottom, he got him out into the middle of the track trying to get him ignited, even to get him jumping.

To me it was a complete no-show - I thought Jonbon travelled really well in second place behind Thistle Ask much more like the Jonbon of old.

Obviously a mistake at five out put him a little bit on the back foot, but I thought James Bowen was brave on him six out and five out and he made him go at the next fence and ultimately he won the race by staying.

It’s interesting Nicky’s on about going back to the Ascot Chase with him, two five - he looks like he’s crying out for it. And does he then go Ryanair - Melling. Who knows?

Interesting to see where he goes - Thistle Ask I couldn’t have, Thistle Ask at Cheltenham anyway going left-handed.

He’s run three times at Cheltenham and always been slightly below expectations?

I wouldn’t mind the Triumph, he was just too free without a hood. Mistake, you could say maybe the track forced him into making the mistake in the Supreme and it looked like the ditches caught him out in the Arkle.

Obviously an English ditch has a different take-off board to the Irish ones. An English ditch take-off board is much taller than an Irish one. It’s literally an orange bar on the ground, whereas in England it’s a much bigger take-off board.

But it did look like he froze at the two ditches. Now you could say ‘hey, you’re only making excuses for him.’

Maybe I am just making excuses for him, but you have to make an excuse for Ascot too for him and say he’s going to get over that as well, so I think all in all, you’d have to be cautious of Il Etait Temps at this minute in time.

Majborough?

Kauto Star missed the Arkle at five, he fell in the Champion Chase at six and then look what he did and I’m not saying Majborough is Kauto Star, but you do have to give them that age, time to develop.

So he’s gone from the Triumph into his novice campaign and I think Hilly Way to Leopardstown was better. I think he’ll be better again at the DRF.

I’m not galloping away at the price and if he was a bigger price, he would definitely entice me a little bit more and with the recent record of the Champion Chase falling apart, to be honest with you I’m looking for something at a price.

But I have not given up on Majborough, I still think he’s a very good horse. He’s a six-year-old and I do think he will develop again six into seven, seven into eight will see him in his prime.

One at a price? Found A Fifty is 33s and he has already beaten Dinoblue and Majborough this year, whether he got lucky or not, he still has that form.

If we gave you a free bet (after Rory says what he wants to back is something at the DRF who catches the eye in the Dublin Chase, but doesn’t quite get home. Jumps well, looks on good terms with themselves, doesn’t quite stay)?

I agree and that’s why I put up Irish Panther in an article last week, but that, to me, is what he did in the novice chase so we’ll see.

1-2-3 free bet?

It’s a tricast, but I’d be sticking in Found A Fifty with Marine Nationale and Majborough.

Queen Mother Champion Chase

Paddy Power: 6-4 Marine Nationale, 9-2 Majborough, 7 Il Etait Temps, 8 L’Eau Du Sud, 16 Jonbon, Quilixios Solness Thistle Ask, 20 Sir Gino 33 Found A Fifty, 40 Irish Panther, 50 bar