'I nearly had a heart attack at the last' - Fourth time plucky for champion Il Etait Temps

While Majborough was imploding, Il Etait Temps was travelling smoothly under a motionless Paul Townend and survived a late scare to take Wednesday's biggest prize

SEALED WITH A KISS: Groom Virginia Bascop with Il Etait Temps after the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, Prestbury Park, Cheltenham. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

When it comes to drama, the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase never fails to deliver and the 2026 renewal was no exception as the Willie Mullins-trained Il Etait Temps survived a final-fence scare to make it fourth time lucky at the Cheltenham Festival.

Fifth in both the 2022 Triumph Hurdle and the 2023 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Il Etait Temps finished third in the Arkle two years ago before missing last year’s Festival entirely.

The diminutive grey returned to Prestbury Park for his fourth crack at Festival glory on the back of a tired fall in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot last time out but, despite his winless Cheltenham record and a less-than-ideal prep, Il Etait Temps was well-backed on the day, going off at odds of 5-2.

The only horse shorter than him in the market was stablemate Majborough and the first section of the race was a thrilling watch for his supporters as he built up a significant lead.

However, things began to unravel for the 5-6 favourite at the eighth fence and another mistake at the ninth brought him back to the pack. And when he made another blunder at the third last there was no way back and he trailed in second last.

Cheltenham Festival

The latest news, views, analysis and opinions on Cheltenham from the Irish Examiner sports desk and our  team of award-winning horse racing writers, tipsters and fans

Go

While Majborough was imploding, Il Etait Temps, an impressive winner of the Tingle Creek earlier in the season, was travelling smoothly under a motionless Paul Townend. That was until the final fence drama but he quickly regathered himself to pull 10 lengths clear of Libberty Hunter with L'Eau Du Sud back in third.

“I thought Paul was very brave on him because he couldn’t go the pace they were setting for the first mile; he sat and sat, and coming down the hill we could all see that the further he was going, the better he was going,” Mullins said.

“I nearly had a heart attack at the last fence but the horse has come to himself at last.

“Taking the hood off and this ground made a big difference to him as well, I’d say. That was way his best performance at Cheltenham. I was wondering, was he a horse that didn’t like this place? But when we went through his form here we found excuses for every run, and perhaps it wasn’t so bad after all.” 

Explaining the thinking behind removing the hood, Mullins said: “We had to do something. Since the time he was a young horse he was always very keen. He’s always worn a hood, and then after Ascot we knew we had to change something, and we think that made a real difference.” 

Reflecting on the Ascot mishap, Mullins added: “It probably took him 24 hours to recover when he came home. You have to remember, he was a bit shaken and then he had to get on the ferry, which isn’t what you’d do really, but it was what we did, and once he got home he settled into his own routine and he recovered quite quickly.” 

For Townend, the one upside from Ascot was that it created an environment where the approach could be altered.

“I thought taking the hood off would help. It’s hard to change it when he’s winning but if you’re knocked back, you can change it up then.

“He’s so tough, he’s so mentally tough to come back after Ascot. A lot of work went into him after that and there are a lot of people to thank — I’m lucky enough to get to hand him back at the end of the day and arrive on him next time knowing he’s in tip-top condition. A lot of credit to everyone at home.” 

For Townend, not having the pressure of riding the favourite was a nice novelty.

“I thought it was brilliant that Majborough was going off in front and favourite — there was no pressure on me. He was the silent horse coming into the race and a lot of people had written him off after one bad run. For a change, the pressure was on someone else!” 

And like so many Champion Chase odds-on shots in recent years, Majborough buckled under that pressure, joining the likes of Jonbon, El Fabiolo, Shishkin, Chacun Pour Soi, Defi Du Seuil, Douvan, and Un De Sceaux in doing so in the last decade.

And given three of those hotpots sported the famous green and gold silks of JP McManus, this might be one big prize destined to forever elude him.

Mullins said of Majborough: “He was going so well at home, but then when he made that first little error and then the second one... he's making life hard for himself.

“At those three or four fences down the back he jumped the first one great, the second one all right and then at the third one he just took off before Mark wanted and I said 'this is not going good'. He got steadily worse from there to the third-last and that was him gone.

“I think he'll put the whole thing together one day and win a big one, unless we have to go out in trip.

“He can certainly gallop and he can certainly jump, but it does fall apart, and maybe he needs to go that extra half-mile — maybe he could be a Ryanair horse.” What's not in doubt is that Il Etait Temps is both a Cheltenham and a Champion Chase horse.