There is a version of this horse's story where the 2025 Arkle Chase at Cheltenham ends differently. Third in that race, Majborough was, by the expert view's own account, the best horse in the field for three-quarters of the contest — until a sequence of jumping errors, culminating in a howler two out, gave the race away rather than lost it on merit. Twelve months on, Willie Mullins sends the same horse back to Cheltenham for the Queen Mother Champion Chase with one transformative change in place: first-time cheekpieces at Leopardstown turned those jumping frailties into a thing of the past, produced what the form book describes as "a highly impressive performance," and delivered a 19-length destruction of 2025 Champion Chase winner Marine Nationale. The cheekpieces are retained today. This is our Festival NAP at 16:00.
The Selection
Majborough is a six-year-old gelding trained by Willie Mullins at Muine Bheag, Co Carlow, partnered by Mark Walsh in the Grade 1 BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase over 1m7f199y on good to soft ground at Cheltenham. He arrives as odds-on market leader with an OR of 174 and form figures that read 3---1-2-3-1 — the two dashes in that sequence being the jumping falls that interrupted his season rather than any evidence of inadequacy. The Mullins yard is operating at 31% from 49 runners over the past 14 days. Marine Nationale, the reigning champion and the horse Majborough beat by 19 lengths at the Dublin Racing Festival, is absent through injury. The crown is genuinely up for grabs, and Majborough holds the strongest claim.
Form and Class
The Dublin Chase at Leopardstown last month is the form that defines this tip. Tackling a Grade 1 field that included the 2025 Champion Chase winner Marine Nationale and Found A Fifty, Majborough — wearing cheekpieces for the first time — jumped with a fluency and authority that had been conspicuously absent in his previous two starts in December. The result was 19 lengths of daylight between him and Marine Nationale at the line. To put that in context: the horse he beat by 19 lengths went on to win the Champion Chase itself last year. The margin is not a fluke of the framing — it is a statement of what this horse is capable of when he keeps his jumping clean.
The cheekpieces are the key detail in the expert view and they must be highlighted clearly: Majborough was beaten twice in December "lacking fluency" without them, then took to them immediately and "jumped better" in the Dublin Chase. The headgear is retained today. That is the most important operational fact in the race.
The Cheltenham course record adds another layer. Majborough won the JCB Triumph Hurdle here in 2024 — he is a confirmed Cheltenham Festival winner on this track, in this atmosphere, on this hill. When he shaped like the best horse in the 2025 Arkle before his jumping let him down, he demonstrated both his ceiling and his vulnerability. The ceiling has since been confirmed at the highest level. The vulnerability has since been addressed with tack. This is a horse whose profile has been built at Cheltenham and whose form has been forged in the deepest Grade 1 company in Ireland.
Why Today
Marine Nationale is absent through injury — the reigning champion does not line up to defend his crown, removing the horse rated above Majborough from the equation. The field of ten includes stablemate Il Etait Temps, who is the market's principal alternative at around 3/1, but that horse is 0-3 at Cheltenham and last fell in the Clarence House at Ascot in January. L'Eau du Sud, the British challenger from Dan Skelton's yard, won the Shloer Chase over this course and distance and is honest and progressive, but was beaten 18 lengths by Il Etait Temps in the Tingle Creek — and Majborough beat the Tingle Creek winner by 19 lengths at Leopardstown. The arithmetic, however crude, points in one direction. Mullins at 31% from 49 runners in the past fortnight confirms the yard is firing at full capacity for the Festival.
The Opposition
Il Etait Temps is the horse to fear most in the market and the one honest sceptics will point to as the reason for any hesitation at odds-on. The grey won the Tingle Creek, beating Jonbon, which is a form line that commands respect. His fall at Ascot is concerning — not because a fall defines a horse, but because Cheltenham's fences at Championship pace are the least forgiving environment in which to have residual confidence questions about jumping. He is also 0-3 at the track. If Majborough replicates the Dublin Chase performance, Il Etait Temps will not trouble him. If Majborough's jumping reverts, Il Etait Temps is the beneficiary most likely to capitalise. The odds-on favourite caveat — Paddy Power's preview noted the "torrid record" of odds-on shots in this race, and jumping races at Championship pace have a way of humbling even the most statistically dominant cases. L'Eau du Sud is the each-way player for those wanting British representation, with proven C&D form from the Shloer and Harry Skelton in the saddle. Quilixios, returning from a year off after a last-fence fall when in contention in the 2025 renewal, deserves a mention as a wild card with a course record and a reappearance record that de Bromhead teams respect. Captain Guinness is the only former winner in the field but at eleven years old and below par this winter, the Cheltenham loyalty only extends so far.
The Bottom Line
Two-time Cheltenham Festival racer, Triumph Hurdle winner on this track. Shaped like the best horse in the 2025 Arkle, beaten only by his own mistakes. Cheekpieces applied at Leopardstown, jumping transformed, Marine Nationale beaten by 19 lengths in a Grade 1. Headgear retained today. OR 174. Mullins yard firing at 31%. Mark Walsh, one of the finest big-race jockeys in training, in the saddle. The reigning champion is absent. At 2.00, this is a Festival NAP — but respect the jumping caveat and the Il Etait Temps threat, and stake accordingly at odds-on.
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