Irish are minded to turn over the master

MASTER MINDED may be odds on to claim his hat-trick in the Queen Mother’s Champion Chase this afternoon, but two men fielding Irish raiders believe that to be far from a foregone conclusion.

Paul Nicholls’ favourite would be the first horse since Badsworth Boy in 1985 to win this race on three successive occasions but the second of those wins was less impressive than his first. Subsequently less than scintillating performances only added to the uncertainty before an ailment was diagnosed and a return to form duly followed at Newbury last month.

Tommy Cooper’s Forpadytheplasterer will be one of those hoping that Master Minded is not the same horse as he was in 2008. In fact, the Tralee man is adamant that the favourite is not “the horse he was two years ago”.