Which is the most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase?

In the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which was established, as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, in 1959, several horses have two victories to their names. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, Moscow Flyer, Sprinter Sacre and, most recently, Altior, have won the race twice.

However, for the most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase we need to look a little further back when, for a bright, but brief, period, National Hunt racing was dominated by Michael ‘The Mad Genius’ Dickinson. Dickinson is best remembered for saddling the first five finishers in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but also saddled Badsworth Boy to the first two of his three wins in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, in 1983 and 1984.

Dickinson, who described Badsworth Boy as ‘the best I trained over jumps’, said, ‘I would urge anyone to watch his first Champion Chase [which he won by a distance] on YouTube because it was the most devastating performance you’re ever likely to see.

In the summer of 1984, Dickinson was recruited by Robert Sangster to train his Flat horses The family licence passed to his mother, Monica, who saddled Badsworth Boy to a record third win in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1985.