CHELTENHAM — Sprinter Sacre, expertly trained by Nicky Henderson, produced one of the greatest comebacks in racing memory when regaining his Champion Chase crown here Wednesday.
Ridden by Nico De Boinville, he won back his title with a majestic performance to down favorite Un de Sceaux by three-and-a-half lengths.
Special Tiara (16-1) finished a nose away in third.
A long shadow had been cast over the two-mile championship's runaway 2013 winner when he suffered a heart scare in December of that year.
He returned last season a pale imitation of his swaggering best, but the magic appeared to have returned Wednesday.
The ten-year-old lined up with two impressive prep wins under his belt yet it was still a massively tall order to regain his title against two previous Champion Chase winners.
Throw in the Willie Mullins-trained hotpot Un de Sceaux and Sprinter Sacre had what was being described as an impossible dream ahead of him.
Sprinter Sacre traveled smoothly in third early on as Un de Sceaux took up the running from Special Tiara with three fences left at the top of the hill.
A huge roar erupted from the Prestbury Park stands as Sprinter Sacre muscled between the pair to hit the front before the second last.
Un de Sceaux had nothing left to give and Sprinter Sacre majestically strode up the famous Cheltenham Hill to win unchallenged with the race commentator screaming: "The impossible dream has become reality".
After being feted in the winner's enclosure he performed a lap of honor, three cheers ringing around the Cotswold track for the equine superstar.
"It has been a long, long journey," veteran English trainer Henderson told the BBC. "They were two very grim years. It was about dreams. You dreamed it could happen, but did you believe it could happen, I don't know."
The second day of the National Hunt Festival began with Yorkhill (3-1) striking for the Ruby Walsh-Mullins combination in the mares hurdle.
Mullins's Shaneshill came off second best to Blaklion in the RSA Chase, the winner supplying Nigel Twiston-Davies with handsome compensation after stablemate The New One missed out in Tuesday's Champions Hurdle.
An Irish horse won the Coral Cup but Diamond King was trained not by Mullins, who has four winners so far, but Gordon Elliott, who also trains Don Cossack, favorite for Friday's Gold Cup.
