Champion Hurdle
Defending champion Sublimity was back
for another crack, but was beaten early on the run-in as Katchit, an
impressive winner of the Triumph Hurdle at the previous Festival, and
Osana, who’d won the International Hurdle at Cheltenham the
previous December, fought out the finish. It was Katchit who
prevailed by a length, all out, to record a first victory in the race
for trainer Alan King and jockey Robert Thornton. Favourite Sizing
Europe weakened quickly and was virtually pulled up on the run-in.
Queen Mother Champion Chase
The second day of the 2008 Cheltenham
Festival was cancelled due to stormy weather and, in particular, high
winds, which made areas of Prestbury Park unsafe for racegoers.
Consequently, the Queen Mother Champion Chase was run as part of a
10-race card, arranged over five and a quarter hours, on Thursday.
However, the race was worth the wait, with the favourite Master
Minded putting in a breathtaking display and cruising to victory by
19 lengths. In so doing, he became the first 5-year-old ever to win
the race.
Stayers’ Hurdle
Defending champion Inglis Drever, who’d
also won the race in 2005, started 11/8 favourite and duly completed
a hat-trick with a narrow, but ultimately fairly comfortable, win
over French raider Kasbah Bliss. The field also feature 2006 winner,
My Way De Solzen, who was fifth, and Hardy Eustace, winner of the
Champion Hurdle in 2004 and 2005, who finished a well-beaten twelfth
of the 15 finishers.
Cheltenham Gold Cup
Kauto Star, trained by Paul Nicholls
and ridden by Ruby Walsh, was once again all the rage, backed into
10/11 favourite, to win his second consecutive Gold Cup. However, his
nearest market rival, and stable companion, Denman, had other ideas,
taking the race by scruff of the neck and going clear after the
fourth last to win comfortably by 7 lengths. Neptune Collonges
finished third, just a short head behind Kauto Star, to complete a
Nicholls’ 1-2-3.
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