Ruby Walsh: Min didn’t like Altior Champion Chase defeat – just let him gallop

Ruby Walsh believes Min could prove far too good for the rest of the field in the Ryanair Chase on St Patrick’s Day at the Cheltenham Festival 2021.

The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old has been ultra-consistent throughout his career securing 12 wins – including last year’s Ryanair Chase – and six second places in 22 entries.

Ruby was in the saddle on one of the rare occasions Min was outside the top two when finishing fifth behind Altior in the 2019 Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Speaking on the latest episode of Paddy Power’s ‘Countdown to Cheltenham’ podcast, Ruby explained what went wrong in that race and how to get the best out of Min.

What’s the best way to ride Min? You just let him gallop. You don’t have to ride him from the front but he just doesn’t want to be held up.

I went and overthought a Champion Chase on one of those occasions when he was out of the first couple behind Altior. He didn’t like it.

Since then Min’s beaten Politologue at Aintree by 20 lengths and came second to Un De Sceaux in the Champion Chase at Punchestown in 2019.  He got the better of Hardline in the 2019 John Durkan Chase and was second to Chacun Pour Soi in last year’s Dublin Chase at Leopardstown before beating Saint Calvados in the Ryanair Chase. He also beat Tornado Flyer in his seasonal reappearance at Punchestown.

His form is still pretty high, he likes a bit of nice ground, he’s a fast two-and-a-half miler. Ultimately, he could have too many gears for his Ryanair Chase rivals.

Min is a classier, speedier horse than Allaho, who is a real staying two-and-a-half miler. And while Imperial Aura likes to race relatively prominently my preference would still be for Min. I can never get away from his performance at Aintree over two-and-a-half miles, that was spectacular to watch.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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