The 2024 Cheltenham Festival: highlights, reviews and reflections

The Festival began with Ireland having the first five home in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and ended with them having the first six home in the Martin Pipe. A mischievous Nick Luck told the channel’s viewers that they could switch to Racing TV Extra to watch the British runners finish.

And in between, the incomparable Willie Mullins trained the first five home in the Gallagher Novices' Hurdle. The Irish challenge was relentless, with Mullins and Gordon Elliott involved in almost everything. The former had 75 runners at the meeting, while the latter had 51, meaning they accounted for more than 34 per cent of the 367 runners. 

The home team did land nine victories to avoid humiliation in the annual battle for the Prestbury Cup. Dan Skelton was responsible for four of them and had a dream week. By contrast, Nicky Henderson had a nightmare time, while Paul Nicholls was somewhere in between.

Heavy going greeted the runners on the opening day, with search parties having to be sent out for most of the British runners.

Irish-trained runners won six of the seven races, having at least the first two home in each. The only contest to escape them, as usual, was the Ultima, won by the Kim Bailey-trained Chianti Classico. It was a treasured sixth winner for the trainer at the meeting.

Bailey’s first two Festival winners had been achieved in 1995 via Alderbrook (Champion Hurdle) and Master Oats (Gold Cup). It was muddy then, too.

In those days, the home team rarely had to look over their shoulders, although that same year a fresh-faced Willie Mullins struck at the meeting for the first time with a 25/1 chance called Tourist Attraction. Those who thought he might be a one-hit wonder now know much better.

Mullins began this year’s meeting with 94 Festival winners to his name – Bailey is not the only one to have enjoyed a head start on him only to see him disappear further and further into the distance – and he added three more on the opening afternoon via State Man (Champion Hurdle), Gaelic Warrior (Arkle) and Lossiemouth (Mares’ Hurdle).

As expected, State Man took full advantage of Constitution Hill’s health issues, although Irish Point, who had been disputing favouritism for the Stayers’ Hurdle in the build-up, made him work for the crown and was only a length-and-a-quarter behind in second. State Man won in the slowest time since Celtic Shot in 1988, with the Supreme being run a second quicker.

Henderson would have watched the 140-rated Luccia finish third with a range of emotions. Pride in her, but pain that Constitution Hill (rated just the 35lb superior) was standing idle in his box at Seven Barrows.

He didn’t have too much time to dwell on that. His other five runners on the opening day were all pulled up, as was his first on day two. Worries over the health of his horses and constant testing led to him withdrawing stars such as Shishkin, Jonbon, Champ and Sir Gino from their intended championship races.

By the end of the week, Britain’s most successful trainer at the Festival had suffered a rare blank with his 16 runners earning just £60,000 in prize-money between them. Their form figures were PP3PPPP404000P7P. Henderson did his best to put on a brave face, including at Kempton on Saturday, but, privately, must have headed home feeling crushed. His travails hung over the meeting and it was poorer for the absence of his horses.

Asked about whether there is a chance that Constitution Hill might be ready to take on State Man before the end of the season, Henderson replied: “I don’t know. At least he was ridden out with the others this morning, which was nice to see. He came out with the other horses for the first time this [Tuesday] morning, but we’ve got a long, long way to go.”

Next year, the pair will have a new kid on the block to worry about in the shape of Lossiemouth. Last season’s Triumph Hurdle winner had impressed in the Unibet Hurdle on her return at Cheltenham in January and won the Mares’ Hurdle with consummate ease. Would she have won the Champion Hurdle had she been given the chance? Very probably.

She’s no bigger than 5/1 to win the Champion Hurdle next season, with Constitution Hill a general 2/1 favourite and State Man 11/2.  The words Constitution Hill and 2/1 in the same sentence surprise me.

Slade Steel (Supreme), Lark In The Mornin (Boodles) and Corbetts Cross (National Hunt Chase) were other day one victors, with the victory of the last-named proving again that if one Mullins doesn’t get you, then another just might. Emmet had the seven-year-old primed for the big day but you wouldn’t like to second guess where he might aim him next term.

Day two of the meeting was a race down before it had started with the waterlogged cross-country course being deemed unfit for action. We were robbed of what promised to be a cracking edition as Delta Work, seeking a historic third successive win in the race, was set to be tackled by Minella Indo, Galvin and Coko Beach.

There has been chat about making the race a handicap, but Cheltenham is about crowning champions. The Festival feature should remain a level weights contest, to ensure the best horse in this sphere is crowned - not potentially an inferior horse getting lumps of weight from another.

Half of the remaining six races featured Willie Mullins hotpots in Ballyburn (Gallagher), Fact To File (Brown Advisory) and El Fabiolo (Champion Chase). You can only imagine the numbers of punters who stuck them in a treble.

Ballyburn (1/2) was brilliant in leading home a 1-2-3-4-5 for the stable (and in a time 9 secs quicker than the Coral Cup winner), while Fact To File (8/13) was tremendously efficient. That left the biggest banker of them all, El Fabiolo, to finish the job off but he had already jumped scruffily before getting the fifth all wrong and being pulled up.

It was the first time he had been beaten over fences and had echoes of Douvan’s clumsy display in the same race, at the same price, for the same trainer, in 2017. The beneficiary that day was the Henry De Bromhead-trained Special Tiara. The beneficiary this time was the De Bromhead-trained Captain Guinness. Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice?

Douvan was never quite the same horse again, while Special Tiara subsequently never won another race. Let’s hope El Fabiolo is none the worse for his mishap and that it won’t be the last time that punters raise a glass to Captain Guinness and record-breaking Rachael Blackmore.

After being stuck on 99 Festival winners for about three hours, Mullins reached his century via Jasmin De Vaux in the Champion Bumper. Fittingly, he was ridden his son, Patrick, who proceeded to give a wonderful insight into his father afterwards when interviewed by Lydia Hislop.

“I can’t put into words what it feels like to train 100 winners here, because nobody ever thought that anybody would train 100 winners,” Mullins Sr said. “As I’ve often said, when I started out and had my first win here with Tourist Attraction I thought that was a lifetime achievement, so I’m absolutely stunned that we’ve come this far.

“We have such a wonderful team at home, with my wife Jackie, Patrick, David Casey, Ruby, Dick (Dowling) and all of my head people. It’s such a team effort, and they had all of those horses to saddle there. I didn’t go near one saddle!”

Langer Dan made history by winning a second Coral Cup for Dan and Harry Skelton, before the brothers struck again with Unexpected Party in the Grand Annual. The British fightback, of sorts, had begun.

The action switched to the New Course on day three and Britain’s fortunes changed, too. Grey Dawning (Turners), Monmiral (Pertemps) and Protektorat (Ryanair) won the first three races for the home side. Monmiral spring a surprise for champion trainer Nicholls but it was his one-time assistant, Skelton, who had most to savour.

Fresh from his handicap double the previous afternoon, this time he had won a pair of Grade Ones in rapid succession – one with a potential Gold Cup horse of the future, and the other who may just have found his calling over shorter.

Skelton’s prize-money haul swept him above Nicholls in the trainers’ championship. The next few weeks promise to be quite a tussle with Aintree sure to be pivotal. Skelton will have an extra week this year to refresh his Cheltenham stars for that richly endowed meeting.

Shakem Up’Arry (Plate) and Golden Ace (Mares’ Novice) also struck for Britain, with Teahupoo finally getting Gordon Elliott off the mark (after a string of near-misses) with his smooth Stayers’ Hurdle victory under Jack Kennedy. The day concluded with Inothewayurthinkin winning the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir with ridiculous ease at 13/8, despite making errors and coming from well off the pace to master his 21 rivals.

Cheltenham ended as it started on Friday, with more rain. As a consequence the ground was deep for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, which had first been run 100 years before.

Over the past century there have been many wonderful champions and nobody can dispute that Galopin Des Champs is up there among the best after the successful defence of his title.

Those who supported the 10/11 favourite will have had few anxious moments, with only the loose Fastorslow threatening to derail him in the closing stages.

Galopin Des Champs avoided mishap and bold leaps over the final fences enabled him to fend off Gerri Colombe by three-and-a-half lengths with Corach Rambler, the Grand National hero, an honourable third.

The bookmakers make Galopin Des Champs 3/1 to become the first three-time winner of the race since Best Mate. I’d certainly much rather be with him, at that price, than his stablemate Fact To File, who is no bigger than 4/1. The latter jumps out to his right and the form of his Brown Advisory win, gained at the main expense of rivals rated in their 140s, suggests that for all his potential he still has to find a huge chunk of improvement to reach the top.

Mullins hinted Galopin Des Champs may not be finished for the season. “I’d normally come back to Punchestown with him; I’ll have a word with connections,” he said. “Good racehorses deserve to run in good races, and we need to see them out at the races, and that’s why I like running them. And if they’re beaten, it’s not the end of the world; they’re still good horses. He’s a horse I’m not afraid to race.

“It would be nice if he and Fact To File both were able to come here next year, but as we know, horses are fragile, especially going over fences - it’s much harder to keep those chasers sounder, they just pick up little injuries, so it would be fantastic if both horses were able to come here next year.

“I just think he put himself in the superstar category, to do what he did in the way that he did it, and that loose horse there - Paul was so positive on him - I think we have to say, we’re coming back next year to try to win a third one if we can. He has the ability to do it, he just has to stay sound, I think.”

The imposing Majborough (Triumph Hurdle) and speedy Absurde (County Hurdle) also struck for Mullins, while Elliott pulled off a double with Stellar Story (Albert Bartlett) and Better Days Ahead (Martin Pipe).

Townend never missed a beat all week (he's now gone 51 rides without suffering a fall or an unseat) and gave former Ebor winner a daring ride from well off the pace, while Stellar Story’s victory was perhaps the most dramatic of the week as front-running The Jukebox Man had looked sure to win jumping last. One moment owner Harry Redknapp could hear a mash up of We Are The Champions and I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ringing in his ears, only for  Everybody Hurts to drown them out.

JP McManus is quickly developing a love affair with the Mares’ Chase and he had a 1-2 with Limerick Lace and Dinoblue, but his Its On The Line was outmuscled by grey mare Sine Nominee in the hunters’ chase. Fiona Needham, her trainer, had ridden the winner of the race many moons ago.

And then, after a mud-splattered Martin Pipe, it was all over.

Anxiety over small fields and uncompetitive races (there were seven odds-on favourites) receded during the second half of the meeting, which delivered everything we expect. If tweaks or changes are needed to keep the greatest show on turf exactly that, then we can trust Cheltenham to make them.