Blast From The Past: Queen Mother Champion Chase

Barry Geraghty, the Cheltenham Festival’s second most successful jockey, has been lucky enough to partner two outstanding two-mile chasers in his career. More recently, he rode Sprinter Sacre to success at consecutive Festivals, firstly in the 2012 Arkle and then in the first of that horse’s two Queen Mother Champion Chase victories 12 months later, two of the best performances seen over fences at Cheltenham in modern times.

A decade earlier, Geraghty enjoyed a long association with Ireland’s greatest chaser since Arkle himself, Moscow Flyer. By the time they lined up for the 2005 Queen Mother Champion Chase, the 11-year-old Moscow Flyer had already been to three Festivals, he too winning the Arkle as a novice and following up a year later in the Queen Mother. In all, Moscow Flyer had won all 17 of his completed chases prior to the 2005 Festival, though it was a record punctuated by a handful of non-completions as well, notably when odds-on to retain his Champion Chase crown in 2004.

On that occasion, his outstanding younger rival Azertyuiop had been the main beneficiary of Moscow Flyer unseating Geraghty and was regarded as his main threat again a year later, though a third top two-miler had also emerged after Well Chief had added his name to those of Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop on the trophy for the Arkle in 2004. The three of them had already met earlier in the season in a memorable Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown which Moscow Flyer had won for the second time, beating Azertyuiop by a length and a half with Well Chief a short head away in third.

With all three having won since Sandown, their second clash made the Queen Mother Champion Chase the race of the 2005 Festival. But for the second year running at Cheltenham, the anticipated duel between Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop failed to materialise as Chasers & Hurdlers explained:   

‘Azertyuiop’s winning chance [was] effectively ended by a bad mistake at the water, the sixth fence. Moscow Flyer travelled strongly just behind the leaders Central House and Kadarann from the start, jumping well except for getting in close four from home (the fence at which he departed the previous year). Leading at the third last, Moscow Flyer was chased all the way from that point by Well Chief, always looking in command and winning by two lengths, with Azertyuiop (subsequently found to have pulled muscles in his abdomen) thirteen lengths behind Well Chief in third and seven lengths ahead of fourth-placed Oneway. Moscow Flyer, mobbed by well-wishers and euphoric Irish racegoers waving the country’s tricolour, received a stirring ovation on his return to the unsaddling enclosure where his jockey Barry Geraghty executed a Frankie Dettori-style flying dismount.’

Moscow Flyer went on to win a second Melling Chase at Aintree but age seemed to catch up with him quickly after that as he suffered his first defeat in completed starts at Punchestown next time and was beaten a further three times subsequently, making his final start when fifth of six finishers in the 2006 Champion Chase.