Johnson Hopeful For Chief Champion owner David Johnson believes his Well Chief is 'the one to beat' in the major two-mile chases this season. The six-year-old was runner-up to Moscow Flyer in the Queen Mother Champion Chase last spring before ending the campaign by beating a previous winner of the Cheltenham showpiece, Azertyuiop, at Sandown in April. With Azertyuiop out for the season and Moscow Flyer being 12 years old come Cheltenham in March, Johnson has every reason to be optimistic about the 2004 Arkle Trophy winner, trained by Martin Pipe, taking the top two-mile prize. 'He´s very well but he hasn´t been back long. The plan is to go for all the top two-mile races, he won´t be stepping up in trip, certainly not this year anyway,' he told At The Races. 'I think he´s the one they´ve got to beat. Moscow Flyer has a few years on the clock so I think it would be a crime to step him up in trip at this point in time. 'I think the Tingle Creek (at Sandown, December 3) is the one we have pencilled in but I need to speak to Martin about that and see how he progresses. We will take it along steady, it´s a long season. Cheltenham is still five or six months away.'? PA Sport
