Newmill heads 12-strong Irish entry for Champion Chase

NEWMILL tops a list of 30 entries for the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

John Joseph Murphy’s charge ran out a nine-length winner of the two-mile feature last year before following up at the Punchestown Festival a month later.

He is bidding to become the ninth horse to secure back-to-back victories in the Grade One contest and the first since the David Nicholson-trained Viking Flagship triumphed in both 1994 and 1995.