Dramatic Champion Hurdle provides thrilling twist on opening day at Cheltenham
The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival provided thrills and excitement aplenty with the biggest twist coming in the headline Champion Hurdle race.
Golden Ace took the trophy for jockey Lorcan Williams and trainer Jeremy Scott after the pre-race favourite, Constitution Hill, and last year's champion, State Man, both fell.
Williams held his charge in the middle of the field, kept up the pace, and took advantage of great fortune to shock bookmakers and punters alike.
Earlier in the day last year's champion jockey and trainer duo, Paul Townend and Willie Mullins kicked off the festival with a comfortable win for Kopek Des Bordes while Jango Baie ran an astounding race to triumph in the Arkle Novices' Chase.
The lead up to Champion Day's showpiece was a predictable affair with favourites triumphing in three of the first four races yet the Champion Hurdle itself was anything but.
King of Kingsfield took the early lead with Brighterdaysahead and Constitution Hill well placed in second and third. Those two dominated much of the pre-festival chatter and spectators were eager to see how their battle would play out.
The field were all jumping smoothly at the halfway mark before the turn down the hill changed everything. Last year's champion, State Man, pushed further forward and there was a huddle of horses leaping over the fifth hurdle. Something had to give.
Unfortunately, it was the legs of Constitution Hill. The 1-2 favourite and 2023 champion was crowded as they approached the jump. He clipped the newly padded hurdle, landed awkwardly and dismounted jockey Nico de Boinville.
Huge gasps of shock, with the occasional shout of joy, emanated from the watching crowd but there was no time to process that the favourite was out. Instead, State Man took control as the two early leaders, King of Kingsfield and Brighterdaysahead, dropped back.
Townend was cheered as he marshalled State Man towards the final hurdle but there was one twist left to come. His charge, on course to win consecutive Champion Hurdle titles, hit the fence and tumbled. Townend was thrown off, the crowd shocked in disbelief. A guaranteed victory thrown away at the final obstacle.
Golden Ace, held safely in the middle of the field for most of the race, leapt clear of the same hurdle in the lead. She swept up the hill and took the title at huge odds of 25-1 becoming the seventh mare to take the title. The win was also a first ever Grade 1 triumph for Williams.
Earlier, the festivities had begun with a sombre but fitting tribute to Irish jockey Michael O'Sullivan who passed away last month after a fall at Thurles. The opening race, which he famously won in 2023 atop Marine Nationale, was renamed in his honour and spectators, jockeys and trainers alike observed a minute's applause as a tribute to him.
The Cheltenham roar thundered around the grandstand as the horses took off in the first race of the festival. Romeo Coolio, ridden by Jack Kennedy and backed to potentially win, took to the front early on before conceding the place to Rachael Blackmore 's Workahead with Kopek Des Bordes well positioned.
The race looked set to be a shootout between the three only for Workahead to surprisingly drop back into the pack leaving the way clear for Romeo Coolio as they headed back towards the stands. Kopek Des Bordes then made his move. He went on the outside and kicked past his rival, but the race wasn't yet won.
Sean Flanagan, riding in the same colours Michael O'Sullivan wore when he won this race, took off after the leader with his charge William Munny. The 8-1 outsider threatened to pull off the most poetic of upsets, especially when Kopek Des Bordes hit the final hurdle hard. His momentum stalled and with the grandstand loudly cheering, William Munny almost took his chance. A clip of the hurdle slowed him down as well but he caught the favourite… for a moment.
Not to be undone, Kopek Des Bordes accelerated up the Cheltenham Hill, a feat few can do, opened distance on his opponents and crossed the line in first place. The favourite lived up to his tag and set the stage for what was to come.
Lucinda Russell's Myretown took the win as the favourite in the Ultima Handicap Chase making it the third time in four years that the Scottish trainer has triumphed in the race after the success of Corach Rambler in 2022 and 2023.
Lossiemouth secured a second winner of the festival for Townend and Mullins with the simplest of wins in the Mares' Hurdle. Stablemate Jade de Grugy set the early and Rachael Blackmore's July Flower threatened to challenge but Lossiemouth was well ahead as a raucous roar of 'yes!' and jubilant cries cheered the 4/6 favourite over the finish line.
Perhaps the highlight of the day went to Jango Baie despite all the drama of the Champion Hurdle. He surprised everyone in the Arkle Novices chase including jockey Nico de Boinville.
Trailing in fourth, in a five-horse race, he came from far back during the final straight, picked a gap in the line and nudged into the lead before winning by a head. De Boinville said: 'They went hard and I thought I was riding for a place but at the last I thought we could be in with a squeak.
'He pinged the last but we knew we had a chance. He saw it out well.'
There were also wins for Puturhandstogether in the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and Haiti Couleurs in the National Hunt Chase to cap off a thrilling day and set the stage for what is yet to come.
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