Clive Smith is the lucky owner of Kauto Star and Master Minded talks about his excitement ahead of the Gold Cup and the Champion Chase with both his horses looking for historic third wins in those races at Cheltenham 2010.

Cheltenham Festival News from Racing Diary

Master Minded On Course for Champion Chase

Master Minded was sent for tests in Newmarket after finishing third behind Well Chief and Mahogany Blaze in the Connaught Chase. Having been consequently ruled out of a repeat bid in the Tingle Creek next weekend, owner Clive Smith is satisfied at having at least discovered the extent of Master Minded‘s problems. He said:

“There was definitely a problem there, and there’s a sense of relief that we’ve now hopefully got to the bottom of what has been troubling him. “He’ll now have a little bit of a rest and is not going to be ridden for a month. Paul is quite convinced that with a month on the horse-walker he’ll be fine from January onwards. With all the things that can go wrong with a horse, this is probably as good as we could have hoped for.”

Rather than head to Sandown for the Tingle Creek, Master Minded will now be primed for the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury in February. Smith is hoping his charge will then be back on top form in his quest to retain the Champion Chase crown a month later. He added:

“We want to see him run well at Newbury and then hopefully it will be all systems go for Cheltenham.”

Cheltenham Festival News from Racing Diary