Unprecedented success led by the courageous
THE intent was signalled the moment the tapes flew back on Tuesday and a 25/1 Irish outsider, which everyone expected to refuse, turned the Supreme Novices Hurdle into a procession.
It set the tone for four days of unparalleled Irish dominance that few predicted, not even those who slavishly support Irish-trained runners at Cheltenham as if defeat is out of the question.
By the end of this one-sided duel, it certainly was. How did it come to pass? How did an Irish raiding team without the ill-fated Vautour, the retired Don Cossack, the injured duo of Faugheen and Annie Power, and rocked by Douvan’s implosion, manage to plant a tricolour of triumph atop Cleeve Hill?
This wasn’t a head-bobber either; it was a blood-bath as Irish-trained horses turned a 3-1 deficit after the Champion Hurdle into a 19-9 landslide for the Prestbury Cup.
The spin of fortune has been staggering as Irish runners, while vital to the Cheltenham scene, long tended to fill a supporting role. A half century ago, in the aftermath of the Arkle-Flying bolt dominance, there was one Irish winner at Cheltenham, Arctic Stream in the Cotswold Chase.
The cheers for Dawn Run’s 1986 Gold Cup charge were barely silent, when Irish horses managed to win just one race in 1987.
Ten years ago, the seeds of resistance had gained a greater foothold in the Gloucestershire turf with five winners, since then the graph has climbed.
There have been 72 Irish winners in the last five Festivals, an average above 14 – that’s more than 50% of all races run.
As Irish trainers and Irish jockeys re-affirm their excellence, wealthy owners are buying horses and directing them to stables in Closutton and Cullentra, Moone and Knockeen.
The tiny villages are not exactly Bord Failte hotspots but in National Hunt racing they are trading posts of equine excellence.
This is where the racing alchemists, Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Jessica Harrington and Henry De Bromhead, concoct their winning Festival brew. The Four Musketeers each left a lasting imprint at the Festival.
Elliott and Mullins bagged six winners apiece, but the former edged the title on the number of second place horses, three to two, to be crowned leading trainer for the first time.
‘We’re all delighted. Coming over, we were hoping for one win. If I couldn’t win the Gold Cup, winning the “Martin Pipe” today (with Champagne Classic) was the race I wanted most,’ he said.
While Harrington became the most successful lady trainer in Festival history as Supasundae’s Coral Cup win was topped off by a final day double - Sizing John in the Gold Cup and Rock The World in the Grand Annual finale.
In her hour of glory, Harrington acknowledged the role played by Henry De Bromhead who had Sizing John in his yard until last August before Harrington ‘inherited’ him.
De Bromhead was ‘delighted’ for Harrington’s success and the what-might-have-been feeling was compensated by landing a second Champion Chase with Special Tiara. In the saddle, the courage and class of the Irish jocks shone. Jamie Codd has been dubbed ‘The Coddfather’ after a second successive Festival double, while Jack Kennedy, 17 going on 27, set the ball rolling on the recalcitrant Labaik. The seasoned Noel Fehily became the first jockey to win the Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase at the same meeting, Davy Russell maintained his sequence of riding a winner every year since 2006, while Paul Townend chipped in with a final day double. Of them all, Ruby Walsh again soared as he brought his A game to the track on Thursday when Mullins needed him most, and delivered four calculating rides of genius. Walsh chalked up his 10th title as leading jockey at the Festival and his tally of 56 wins is 25 more than the retired AP McCoy. Walsh turns 38 in May and when he hangs up his whip, he will have set records to last longer than the statue unveiled in McCoy’s honour last Tuesday.