THE 2018 Cheltenham Festival may have been a resounding success for Irish-trained horses – with the Prestbury Cup won long before the end – but let it not be forgotten that the three biggest races of all during the week stayed in Britain. That said, the Champion Hurdle winner was ridden by an Irishman and the Champion Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup winners were both Irish-bred!

That Gold Cup was the highlight of a final day when, following overnight rain, the surface was the most testing of the Festival and just about “heavy”. In such circumstances, and in a field of 14, it was no easy task to set out to make all on a strongly-fancied runner, as Richard Johnson did on Native River, and he pulled it off brilliantly.