Bobs Worth dived to his left, Lord Windermere went right and carried On His Own and The Giant Bolster with him while Silviniaco Conti went both left and right.

The result was very close but Lord Windermere (42) prevailed, having been given a great ride by Davy Russell.

Lord Windermere had real difficulty going the early pace, so Russell just let him drop out and lope along right at the back of the field, four lengths behind the next to last horse. He then allowed the horse’s great strength and stamina to pull him slowly into the race and finally got up in a driving, crowded finish.

As I’ve mentioned before, Lord Windermere’s tremendous strength over the withers appears to make him really good at climbing the uphill sections of courses with steep undulations. He’s now won five of the seven times that he’s run on undulating tracks and finished a close second to smart rivals over inadequate distances in his two losses. He can look one-paced on normal courses but when the course goes up hill and down dale he’s tough to beat.

The runner-up On His Own (42) is a giant tank of a horse. I suggested after his last run that he was probably best on right-handed courses. That’s almost certainly true.

However, he’s run really well on left-handed tracks in the past and did so again here. He made much of the running and rallied powerfully in the closing stages. He jumped right two out, hampering The Giant Bolster, but that was the only sign he gave of going right through the race, except for the run-in where the winner carried him in that direction.

The only time On His Own has lost in six tries on right-handed courses was at last year’s Punchestown Festival.

Most likely he hadn’t recovered from his run in the Grand National three weeks earlier. This time around he’ll be skipping the Grand National, so he should be very tough to beat in the Punchestown Gold Cup.

Like the winner, The Giant Bolster (42) had difficulty going the pace. He pulled himself into the race and engaged in a dramatic tussle for the prize on the run-in as three horses on his side of the track passed the two on the far side. He was arguably unlucky as he took a bump from On His Own at the second last.

This is the third time The Giant Bolster has placed in the Gold Cup. He seems to produce his very best form at Cheltenham and I reckon it’s because the course is closest to his home stables. Outside of the Gold Cup he’s unbeaten in four starts at Cheltenham and Worcester, the next nearest course to his home stables.

confidence

Silviniaco Conti (42) seems to have recovered confidence in his jumping as he appeared quite unfazed by being asked to race in heavy traffic for most of the race. There was only one brief stage around half-way where the looked to be in any way bothered by all the horses around him.

When he moved up then kicked into the lead four out he looked the winner for a long way. But just when he’d gotten the better of the duel with Bobs Worth, the first three hooked up in a three-way battle on the other side of the course and swept past him in the last half furlong.

Bobs Worth (41) was under pressure from some way out and tired in the closing stages, diving dramatically left as he did so. This was the first time he’s lost in six starts at Cheltenham. It does look like he’s lost a step this season.

Lyreen Legend (40) ran his best ever race and would have finished even closer but for ploughing through the second last. He seems to like undulating tracks as much as the winner and is still only seven years old. It looks like he’s improving with age.

Further back in the field it was hard not to like the performance of Grand National candidate Teaforthree(37). He was competitive for an awfully long way.