DAY TWO REVIEW:WITH BRILLIANCE comes expectation so there were actually some disappointed murmurs after Master Minded recorded back-to-back victories in the Queen Mother Champion Chase that he was not as impressive as last year. In an indirectly perverse way they were really just a different type of compliment to a true champion.
Okay, the winning margin was seven lengths to the returning hero Well Chief instead of the 17 with which Master Minded routed Voy Por Ustedes in 2008, but not once did he and Ruby Walsh ever look out of control.
At the business end of the race, Petit Robin surged down the hill leaving Walsh with no option but to respond in kind. And, as expected, it was when the competition got hottest that Master Minded’s quality emerged.
A slap down the shoulder produced enough to put Petit Robin in his place and Walsh only had to keep jump racing’s highest- rated horse up to his work to hold Well Chief who was racing for the first time in almost 700 days.
Anyone disappointed by such an authoritative display – which meant the first successful defence of the two-mile crown in 14 years – is in danger of running out of lilies to gild.
Paul Nicholls likes his gardening but he is unlikely ever to pursue that sort of horticultural activity. Instead he will continue to indulge in the hard-headed pursuit of success, something those other pragmatists, the bookmakers, believe Master Minded will continue to experience in spades.
William Hill only go 11-10 about him becoming a triple champion next year and the horse is currently so dominant, they offer just 4-1 about Master Minded beating Badsworth Boy’s record and scoring four-in-a-row in 2011. It’s a line of thought that Nicholls agrees with.
“At the end of the day we are not interested in winning races by 20 lengths. Our job is to produce the horse on the day to win and then look after his future. So I don’t see the point of winning by 20 lengths.
“Last year was unusual in that they went off very quick and we didn’t know that much about the horse. So it was wonderful to see him win like he did.
“But now he has got a little bit lazy at home and we know he has got a good bit left in the tank. So if we mind him we can keep coming back for these Grade One races, and maybe try and win the race a third time next year,” the champion trainer said.
For Walsh, who was completing a rare festival treble in three successive races, Master Minded was the crowning achievement of a remarkable 100-minute run of success.
“He got lit up in the parade ring today which is unusual for him and I struggled to pull him up after the second false start,” he said.
“Barry [Geraghty] put the gun to his head coming to the third last and it was do or die. But that’s championship racing.”
Master Minded won’t return to Aintree where he was beaten last year and is unlikely to wait for Punchestown due to the probability of faster ground.
“We’ll look at the same thing next season: Tingle Creek, Victor Chandler and then back here hopefully,” Nicholls said.
“He’s a great horse who has got everything. He jumps great, has loads of pace and he’s dead genuine. If we look after him he can stay at the top of his game for a number of years yet.”
And if that’s a prospect that doesn’t thrill anyone who watched a great horse doing what he does best, then frankly they’re watching the wrong game.
