• Cheltenham Festival

Somersby confirmed for the Champion Chase

Somersby prefers the softer ground © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Big Buck's returns in World Hurdle pursuit
  
• Article: Kauto going for Gold at Cheltenham
  

Click here to bet on the Cheltenham Festival at bet365

Henrietta Knight, trainer of Somersby, has confirmed the seven-year-old will run the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

There had been suggestion that Somersby would be switched to the Ryanair Chase if ground quickened, but that possibility has now been taken out of the equation.

Camilla Radford, the horse's owner, is set to receive a bout of chemotherapy on the same day as the Ryanair, so Somersby will be sent out 24 hours earlier in the two-mile Champion Chase.

Knight told the Guardian: "The fact is that Mrs Radford is ill at the moment and is having chemotherapy on Thursday next week, so he will run on Wednesday so that she can come and see him.

"He goes to the race on Wednesday whatever the weather, whether it is raining or snowing or whatever it is. It may not be perfect, but it's not influenced by anything other than family misfortunes.

"I had thought that the treatment could be changed if necessary but it has to be booked two or three weeks ahead in London. It's all done very scientifically and it can't be changed. If they water the course and then it rains on top, that would certainly suit him as he likes the ground soft."

Knight confirmed that Robert Thornton would be given the ride, replacing Hadden Frost on the saddle.

"Choc [Thornton] rode him twice last year. Hadden has done nothing wrong on Somersby but he lacks the experience of championship races," Knight told the Daily Mail.

One horse that will be running the Ryanair is Voy Por Ustedes, the dual Festival winner owned by Sir Robert Ogden. Both the Arkle Trophy and the Champion Chase have been claimed by Ogden's charge in the past, and only Imperial Commander ran better two years ago.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.