Why the Queen Mother Champion Chase is so much more than Ascot round two
Wednesday: 3.30 Cheltenham
Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) | 2m | 5yo+ | ITV/RTV
They bring you in, Shishkin and Energumene. They are like Eve and Villanelle, except the obsession is all ours. No other race this week would have had this correspondent refreshing the declarations every 30 seconds on Monday morning, waiting for Paul Townend's decision on who to ride. He had to be on Energumene, how could he not?
There is no one reason why this rivalry, which had been by proxy for a year before they met at Ascot, has reached Kauto Star-Denman levels. All that can be said for certain is that the first round, little more than seven weeks ago, has only made the racing public hungry for more.
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