WITH question marks hanging over the two previous winners of the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the door is ajar for a turn-up in this afternoon's feature contest on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

And Special Tiara could be the horse wearing the crown at the end of this thrilling two-mile showpiece.

Few can have forgotten the superiority Sprinter Sacre showed in this race two years ago when he was the most dominant chaser on the planet. But a heart problem brought his career to a shuddering halt last season and although he returned with a useful effort to chase home Dodging Bullets at Ascot in January, he worryingly bled from the nose after that comeback performance.

As for Sire de Grugy, who reigned supreme last season and won the Queen Mother Chase in Sprinter Sacre's absence, he has had his own issues to deal with since; a hip injury keeping him off the course until last month.

Having fluffed his lines on his comeback, he has since given lumps of weight away to inferior rivals at Chepstow, but that was less than three weeks ago on heavy ground and it might backfire on him this afternoon.

Sprinter Sacre and Sire de Grugy are the top two in the betting for this £350,000 event, but perhaps better value each-way is 25-1 shot Special Tiara, trained in Ireland by Henry de Bromhead, and an all-the-way winner from Balder Success at Kempton's Christmas meeting.

This better ground will benefit Special Tiara, a Grade 1 winner at Aintree in 2013, and he makes plenty of appeal to pick up the pieces if the 'big two' fail to fire in a fascinating contest.

The Young Master is fancied to go well for Neil Mulholland in the RSA Chase, despite strong challengers from England and Ireland.

The six-year-old has gone from strength to strength this season and although this Grade 1 contest represents a steep rise in class, he has graduated to a lofty rating of 151, which puts him right in the reckoning if he can run up to his mark. Barry Geraghty rides.

Willie Mullins, represented by the well fancied Don Poli in the RSA, can clinch the opening Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle with Nichols Canyon.

Ruby Walsh's mount has won all his completed starts and looked good when winning a Grade 1 race at Leopardstown last month. This step up in trip may bring out further improvement in this exciting gelding.

Mullins, who enjoyed a day to remember yesterday, can also have a say in the Coral Cup with Un Atout, the mount of Bryan Cooper.

Restricted to only two outings, both over fences, Un Atout returns to hurdles this afternoon and merits close attention considering he was a Grade 1 winner in 2013.

Mullins saddles no fewer than seven of the 24 runners in the concluding Weatherbys Champion Bumper, which looks as competitive and open as ever. There are, however, good vibes about Jetstream Jack, trained by Gordon Elliott.

A point-to-point winner, he followed up in a Fairyhouse bumper on New Year's Day and has since been targeted at this prize. He is worthy of the nap vote in the hands of Davy Condon.

Norton trainer John Quinn is hopeful of a bold show from Mr Gallivanter in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, and it would be no surprise to see this dual-winner produce a good performance. Preference, however, is for the Dan Skelton-trained Zarib, whose only defeat in three starts over hurdles came at the hands of the top-class Peace And Co on this course.

The Glenfarclas Cross-Country Handicap Chase offers Duke Of Lucca the chance to clinch a notable victory over a novel course, over which he unseated his rider on his latest appearance.

Duke Of Lucca coped well, nevertheless, in this race last year, finishing fourth to his stablemate Balthazar King. This could be another winner for Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson.
 

Selections

Cheltenham today

1.30 Nichols Canyon, 2.05 The Young Master, 2.40 Un Atout, 3.20 Special Tiara, 4.00 Duke Of Lucca, 4.40 Zarib, 5.15 Jetstream Jack (NAP).

Southwell today

1.55 Royal Holiday, 2.30 Realize, 3.05 River Of Dreams, 3.45 Special Code, 4.25 Katie Gale, 5.05 Ernest 5.40 Hab Reeh.

Today's other meetings

Huntington and Kempton.

Tomorrow's meetings

Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Hexham and Towcester.