FLAGSHIP IMPROVING Uneasy Queen Mother Champion Chase favourite Flagship Uberalles was today reported to be 'improving' as he battles to be fit for Cheltenham. Noel Chance is refusing to panic over the condition of his gelding, who returned lame after he was beaten at odds-on in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury last Saturday. 'We have treated him now, he is still lame but he is a little bit better,' the trainer said. 'I didn`t expect him to recover overnight - it is not like treading on a stone where you remove the stone and you remove the problem.' Chance believes Flagship Uberalles sustained his injury in the early stages of the Game Spirit, in which he went down by 17 lengths to Function Dream. 'Richard Johnson thinks he did it at the second fence or certainly by the third so he has run a long way with it - and it was a meritorious performance,' he said. 'We have budgeted for a week and only if he wasn`t better by next Monday or next Tuesday would we worrybut he is very fit now and doesn`t need much work - I wouldn`t have worked him for a week anyway. 'Obviously I would like him sound sooner but we will pay it by ear. He is improving a little bit and once they are improving they are on the way.' Flagship Uberalles had been clear favourite for the Champion Chase after his runaway win in the Tingle Creek Chase at Cheltenham in December. But he now shares market leadership with 2000 winner Edredon Bleu in the Tote`s list and trails Function Dream in Surrey betting.
