DAY FOUR A NOBLE EFFORT

LET’S be honest, we are all hanging on a little after a week of what we could call heavy socialising, but you have to summon up the energy for the final day of the Cheltenham Festival. Looking at some of the bedraggled souls staggering out after Day Three of this magical week, I suspect they won’t be back for a fourth round. Yet this is St Patrick’s Day and the rules are clearly defined; you have to party whether you want to or not!

The Gold Cup always brings the racing world to a standstill and, for our in-house legend Ruby Walsh (above), there is only one winner in the big one today.

‘If I was given the choice, I would ride Galopin Des Champs all day every day. He’s tailor-made for it,’ Ruby told Paddy Power News of the 7-4 favourite.

‘When you light him up now, he switches himself back off. He’s not on and going all the time, which he was last year. ‘Galopin Des Champs has the ideal profile for a Gold Cup horse. He had the pace to win over shorter, he looks like he’ll get further. He ticks all the boxes.’

A Plus Tard is next in the