Punters clean up on day three of festival

PUNTERS floored the bookmakers with a string of wellbacked winners on day three of the Cheltenham Festival.

The layers just about held the edge at the halfway stage and had a false dawn in the opener on Thursday when 4-9 favourite Envoi Allen, one of the bankers of the week, was an early casualty in the Marsh Novices’ Chase.

His exit blew the race wide open and it was left to the Nicky Henderson-trained Chantry House (9-1) to land the spoils.

One punter who was happy he decided not to pin half a million hopes on Envoi Allen was Betfair client Paul Dean. He partially cashed out for £250,000 after all the previous legs of his £5 accumulator had won. The layers had another narrow escape when 100-30 favourite The Bosses Oscar had to play second fiddle to Mrs Milner (12-1) in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.

But then the tide turned with Allaho (3-1 favourite) justifying strong support in the Ryanair Chase for Willie Mullins and Rachael Blackmore.

The defeat of 9-4 favourite Paisley Park in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, won by Flooring Porter (12-1), did little to cheer the bookmakers, while the incredible last-to-first dash of Mount Ida (3-1 favourite) in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup summed up their day.

“Envoi Allen’s defeat in the Marsh ended the run of opening-race winning favourites this week, while the ever popular Paisley Park could manage only third place in the Stayers’ Hurdle,” said Coral’s David Stevens. “But plenty of punters cheered home two more winners for the in-form Rachael Blackmore in Allaho and Telmesomethinggirl. With the biggest day of the week to come, there’s still all to play for in this stay at home Festival.”