A huge shakeup in the Cheltenham Champion Chase market as the second-favourite, Marine Nationale, has pulled out.
Champion Chase Betting
The 2025 Cheltenham Festival Champion Chase winner and one of the market favourites to win this year's renewal, Marine Nationale, has pulled out of the festival with injury.
The news was broken on Tuesday morning has trainer Barry Connell told the Racing Post: "He was very sore through his neck this morning. We had the vets in this morning and they put him on pain relief medication and we're just going to be out of time with withdrawal times."
Marine Nationale had taken 22% of all Champion Chase bets across Oddschecker since the end of the 2025 festival in a big blow to ante-post punters.
Current market favourite, Willie Mullins' Majborough, has seen his price cut from 6/4 to 8/11 following the news.
Who is the favourite to win the 2026 Champion Chase?
As mentioned, Majborough has shortened to an 8/11 favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham. L'Eau Du Sud (4/1) and Il Etait Temps (9/2) follow him in the market.
| Champion Chase Winner (NRNB) | Best NRNB Odds | Bookmaker |
|---|---|---|
| Majborough | 4/5 | bet365 |
| L'Eau Du Sud | 4/1 | William Hill |
| Il Etait Temps | 9/2 | Betfred |
| Quilixios | 8/1 | 888sport |
| Jonbon | 10/1 | Sky Bet |
In the time since the injury news broke, 57% of Champion Chase bets have backed Majborough to win the rest, with Il Etait Temps second in that list with 11% of bets.
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Liam Firkin's Reaction to the Marine Nationale News
Oddschecker+ racing tipster Liam Firkin gave us his reaction to the news:
"The Champion Chase picture has been blown wide open with Majborough being the main beneficiary, now as short as 8/11.
Could it be that JP McManus has two darts at this race, of course, he is yet to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase and that potentially brings Jonbon (10/1) back into the reckoning.
A couple of other interesting angles could be the fact that Irish Panther (25/1) may take his chance in open company.
Or Only By Night (33/1), who's already finished ahead of Majborough at the Cheltenham Festival in last year's renewal of the Arkle. She will get the drying ground and has been purchaed by Robcour in the summer and they will want to be going for the top prizes, should they feel they have a decent chance. She will be the one I have my eye on at decent prizes and will look forward to news coming out of Gavin Cromwell's yard."
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