Yesterday we saw the gritty Edredon Bleu battle for his life to win the Champion Chase in 2000. I hope these videos are getting everyone in the mood for cheltenham after seeing, Barizan, Istabraq, Denman and of course Edredon Bleu in classic festival races. Today is no exception and a heart warming one at that. It was 2005 and the Champion Chase was to be contested between three horses. They were the young up and coming Well Chief, defending Champion Azertyuiop and veteran Moscow Flyer. The latter was the 6/4 favourite and this probably going to be his last real attempt at the Cheltenham Festival. Take a look what happened.
Moscow Flyer - 2005 Queen Mother Champion Chase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kPtQN0eVMo
The race all started to unfold after Azertyuiop made a terrible mistake at the water jump after leaving his legs behind leaving himself with a mountain to climb. From there on in it was Well Chief vs Moscow Flyer. Barry Geraghty sent Moscow Flyer to the front coming down the hill but was stalked all the time by Timmy Murphy and Well Chief. Moscow Flyer seemed to take a length out of his rivals at the third last while his main opponent was slow compared to the veteran. The roars of the crowd began to bellow out between the 3rd last and 2nd last fences and all of a sudden Timmy Murphy was working over Well Chief but turning for home the old boy only had a lead of a length and was under maximum pressure. A better jump from Moscow Flyer seemed to win the race for him as Well Chief couldnt close anymore and Moscow Flyer went on to win by 2 lengths much to the delight of the Cheltenham crowd. A golden time for the 2 mile chase division!
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