Chief is the Master blaster
Although the inaugural running of the two-mile test appeared to be a match on paper, the big guns were split by Mahogany Blaze as Master Minded finished out of the front two for the first time in a completed chase in Britain.
Paul Nicholls had warned the dual Champion Chase winner would benefit from the outing and the writing was on the wall for the 4-7 favourite as Timmy Murphy produced the David Pipe-trained Well Chief to lead over the third-last.
Master Minded had hung right throughout under Ruby Walsh and wilted on the run-in to finish nearly three lengths adrift of Mahogany Blaze, who was in turn a length and a quarter back from 11-4 second-favourite Well Chief.
William Hill pushed Master Minded right out to 7-4 for next year’s Queen Mother while offering Well Chief at 7-1.
Nicholls said: “For some reason he was just hanging right-handed and we will have to find out why.
“Funnily enough after he won at Sandown a long time ago Ruby said he wanted to go right-handed and wouldn’t be suited by Cheltenham, but we got over that.
“He has needed the run today, he’s having a blow, and he won’t have to give 10lb away again. We’ll have to see what happens in the Tingle Creek, but the concern is his hanging right-handed.”
Well Chief belongs to that great triumvirate of two-mile chasers alongside Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop and was produced to near perfection by Pipe to bustle up Master Minded in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in March after nearly two years off the track.
Seven lengths separated the pair that day and Pipe and owner David Johnson were overjoyed he managed to turn the form around, albeit in receipt of a hefty weight concession.
Pipe said: “It is very special and it was very special to see the reception the crowd gave him, as they did when he finished second in the Champion Chase last season.
“He is not getting any younger. We just have to look after him even more and I am a lucky person to be able to train him.
“We have had a clear run with him and there is always going to be room for improvement.
“He has got a great attitude and is a great jumper. He has got the ability of a champion and wants to win.
“We’ll get him back to Pond House and hope his legs are OK and then look at the Tingle Creek.”
Johnson added: “He was fit and well and getting 10lb from Master Minded, which gave us a squeak.
“Whether Master Minded has run his race I don’t know but it looks like he has won fair and square.
“David has always persevered with him. He is a 175-rated horse at his best so we have always hung in there as horses like him don’t come along very often.
“He has had stem cells and all sorts of treatment so it is amazing that he is still walking.
“We were getting 10lb so I am not getting carried away but let’s see what March brings. He has done it and I think he will improve for it too.
“Each time he is on a racecourse it is a thrill and lowering Master Minded’s colours is a great thing to do. It can’t get any better.
“He has been the highest-rated horse I have ever had and he probably the missed the best years of his life by spending two years in his box.
“It is like having a 10-year-old car with 3,000 miles on the clock. I just hope his legs are OK tomorrow morning. If they are it’s on to March and probably the Tingle Creek before that.”
Murphy said: “Everyone has their own character and he is a bit of a playboy.
“His legs are not up to what his body is.
“I could see down the back that Master Minded was lugging right and not getting into a rhythm.
“We were getting 10lb and he has jumped pretty well on the whole and handled the ground well. He feels a million dollars.”
The first three home are likely to meet again in the Tingle Creek at Sandown on the first Saturday of December, with Nigel Twiston-Davies nominating the race for Mahogany Blaze.
He said: “It was a very good run and blinkers were the thing today. He owed us a decent run and he’ll be in all the top two-mile races. He’ll definitely go for the Tingle Creek.”
