Join

Il Etait Temps dazzles in Queen Mother Champion Chase

By Racing TV

Last Updated: Wed 11 Mar 2026

Il Etait Temps survived a final-fence scare to finally conquer the Cheltenham Festival in an enthralling BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Unsuccessful in three previous visits to the showpiece meeting, Willie Mullins’ pint-sized grey was a faller at Ascot on his most recent start but bounced back to the form he showed when winning the Tingle Creek in December.

Most of the early attention was on stablemate and 5-6 favourite Majborough, who having been slightly left at the start soon forced his way to the front and cut a bold sight as Mark Walsh attempted to put his rivals under pressure.

However, he parted the birch five out which gave a glimmer of hope to the chasing pack and another poor jump with the pursuers hot on his tail three out saw Majborough’s efforts come to a premature end.

Henry de Bromhead’s Quilixios and Dan Skelton’s L’Eau Du Sud led the field into the home straight, but the eye was drawn to a motionless Paul Townend aboard Il Etait Temps – who counts former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter among his owners.

Taking the lead on the run to the final fence, the eight-year-old stumbled on the landing side but it made no difference as he galloped to a 10-length success at odds of 5-2 over the fast-finishing Libberty Hunter, who picked up the pieces for second at 50-1 ahead of L’Eau Du Sud.

Angus McNae: my four horse racing tips for Sunday

Sapphire a Galway jewel

Ross Millar's Juvenile Watch: Look out for Shivraj up in trip

All level as bookmakers and punters trade blows on day one of Cheltenham

Vaughan string under a cloud

Todays top offer

Get 1,000,000 Free Spins on J Cole

T&Cs Apply

18+ New customers only. Bet £10+ on pre-match accas with 4+ legs, min odds 3/1 (4.0) within 14 days of sign-up. Get 4x £5 Horse Racing Free Bets and 50 Free Spins, valid for 7 days on selected bets and games only. Restrictions and T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org

Claim Now

Featured offers

Bet £20 Get £40 in free bets with BetVictor

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

18+ New Customers only. Opt in, bet £20 on Horse Racing, 1/1+ odds in 7 days, no cash out. Get £40 in Free Bets on set markets valid 7 days. Debit Card / Apple Pay payments only. T&Cs apply. See below. begambleaware.org | Please Gamble Responsibly.

Bet £10 & Get £30 in free bets

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

New Customers only. Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5 and £10 to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. 18+ Bet Responsibly. BeGambleAware.org.

Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets with Midnite

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

This is a test description for a Midnite offer etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc

Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

Please bet responsibly

My Account

Home

Watch

Live

Replays

On Demand

Catch Up

Tv Schedule

RTV Play Schedule

Racecards

Today's Runners

Non-Runners

Tommorow's Runners

Racing Calendar

Results

Tips

Racing TV Tipsters

Nap Of The Day

News

All

Latest

Highlights

Columnists