Was the credit crunch the reason that the first day of the Cheltenham Festival was slightly subdued this year? Maybe it was the fact that the Irish thought they had fewer chances than normal? Perhaps it was simply that the bad winter had put long-planned training schedules into doubt and there were fewer pointers to form than normal.

Whatever, the 50,000 gathered were strangely quiet before the runners in the first were waved off at the bottom of the famous Cheltenham hill. There was a cheer as they started but after that (certainly until the finish of the Champion Hurdle) hearts were in mouths as the crowd witnessed some of the finest racing it will ever see on a single day.

The pace of the first was frightening, and even though the Irish certainty (Cousin Vinny) came nowhere, we knew we'd seen a classic encounter as Go Native held on bravely for the line.

In the second, Irish joy was unconfined. Paul Nicholls's favourite, The Tatenen, fell at the second fence and, unchallenged until the hill and the finish, Forpadydeplasterer looked an out and out winner before Kalahari King suddenly appeared out of nowhere and just failed to take the wind out of the Irish sails on the line. Cue bouts of hat waving, newspapers in the air, hugs and dancing, and much renewed queues at the Guinness bar.

In the third, we saw a masterpiece of riding from the champion jockey Tony McCoy, as the northern Irishman picked up his mount Wichita Lineman and somehow got his head in front on the line, when Maljimar had looked an out and out certainty to win. A favourite winning is always popular, with everyone but the bookies, and this was no exception. Suddenly, champagne was the order in the bars.

So, onto the big race, the Champion Hurdle. Two testing miles around the Prestbury Park arena, billed in advance as a stroll for the favourite Binocular, who had destroyed all opposition so far this season with McCoy once more on board. Four previous winners of the event were also in the field, so this was hardly going to be straightforward, especially with a field of 23 taking part.

The race emerged as a tactical one, no one wanting to make the pace up the hill over the first half mile. It was slow down the hill too, but at the turn, where a smaller incline is encountered - at around the half-way point - three runners emerged to inject extra pace. Second favourite Celestial Halo, Punjabi, and Katchit - and together they made three lengths before the field started to respond.

McCoy was riding Binocular easily, but knew he had to do something and punched Binocular around the turn snapping at the leaders' heels as they started the long straight for home.

The crowd started cheering. This was going to be a re-run of the last, with McCoy sweeping by on the line, but all were untidy over the last hurdle. Punjabi, leading them home, and Celestial Halo clearly had other ideas about the outcome, and in a frantic finish, the places were unchanged, though the distances – a short-head and a neck – showed just how much of a close run thing it had been.

After this, the crowd was silent. Many times during the remainder of the day, I heard the phrase 'king Punjabi', but I don't think they were all applauding the game run of the 22-1 outsider.

END

(c) Blakeney 10 March 09

Note - The Festival, Cheltenham is 10-13 March 2009. The official site is www.cheltenham.co.uk

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com