ONLY one horse went off at odds on at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival as judged by Betfair SP – the smallest number in five years – and that was Altior in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, the highlight of Wednesday.

With a welcome sense of inevitability, the nine-year-old completed the task, and has now won 18 out of 18 over jumps, 13 of them over fences. It was not without a scare along the way, however, as Altior was headed briefly by Sceau Royal at the last then joined by Politologue early on the run-in.