Which was the last British-trained horse to win the Champion Chase at Down Royal?

The Ladbrokes Champion Chase, formerly the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase, is, as the name suggests, a Grade 1 steeplechase run over three miles at Down Royal Racecourse, near Lisburn, Northern Ireland in late October or early November. The race is a latter-day addition to the Irish National Hunt calendar, having been inaugurated, over a furlong further, in 1999, before being shortened to the current distance a year later.

After the first three, top-class renewals, won by Florida Pearl, Looks Like Trouble and Foxchapel King, the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Championship Chase, as was, was awarded Grade 1 status. Indeed, the Ladbrokes Champion Chase, as the race has been known since the 2019 renewal, now has the distinction of being the first Grade 1 event of the Irish National Hunt season.

Despite its relatively short history, the :Ladbrokes Champion Chase is firmly established as an early-season target for top-class staying chasers trained on both sides of the Irish Sea. Of 24 renewals, so far, six have gone the way of British-trained horses, all bar one of which were trained by Paul Nicholls. The 14-time British Champion National Hunt Trainer was responsible for Taranis (2007), Kauto Star (2008, 2010), Kauto Stone (2012) and, most recently, Frodon (2021). The first four of that quintet were ridden by Ruby Walsh and Frodon by Bryony Frost. Alongside Co. Meath-based Gordon Elliott, Nicholls is jointly the most successful trainer in the history of the race.