Dual winner Master Minded heads a superb entry of 21 for this year's £320,000 sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase, highlight of the second day of The Cheltenham Festival, Wednesday, March 16.

            The Paul Nicholls-trained eight-year-old is bidding to become only the second chaser to win the two-mile championship three times, following Badsworth Boy (1983-85), having posted a stunning 19-length success in 2008 and followed up with another authoritative victory 12 months later. Sponsor sportingbet.com makes Master Minded 7/4 favourite to regain his crown.

            Master Minded could only finish fourth behind the Colm Murphy-trained Big Zeb (the 3/1 second favourite with sportingbet.com) in last year's sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase but Clive Smith's chaser has looked back to his best this term following a breathing operation, having recorded a pair of facile victories in a Grade Two chase at Ascot and in the Grade One Keith Prowse Hospitality Tingle Creek Chase, which was run at Cheltenham on December 11.

            Nicholls, who is chasing a fifth sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase, has also entered the progressive Woolcombe Folly (8/1), who notched an impressive victory in a Cheltenham handicap chase at The International, Grade One winner Tataniano (12/1) and Tchico Polos (50/1).

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