Day two of the Cheltenham Festival certainly did not disappoint.
It was a great day for the Irish with six wins out of seven.
Another two winners for Rachael Blackmore, two for Henry De Bromhead, two for Willie Mullins and stunning results for Tiger Roll and and Heaven Help us for Richard Condon defined the day.
5.09pm: Sir Gerhard provided both Blackmore and Mullins with their third winners of the meeting in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, on stable debut following his move away from Elliott this month.
The six-year-old extended his unbeaten career record to three under rules, leading throughout in a steadily run race, then stretching clear two furlongs out before having to dig deep to hold the late challenge of odds-on favourite Kilcruit.
He did so by half-a-length, at 85-40, to give owners Cheveley Park Stud their third successive victory in the race – following the triumphs of Ferny Hollow (2020) and Envoi Allen (2019).
4.32pm: Sky Pirate just held the late thrust of Entoucas to land a blow for Britain at last on St Patrick’s Day – in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase.
Nick Scholfield was back on board, after missing Sky Pirate’s two mid-winter victories because of injury, and the partnership showed great tenacity to win by a short-head at 14-1.
Entoucas still appeared to be full of running at the last but just could not quite reel in Jonjo O’Neill’s winner in time.
Ibleo stayed on to be almost four lengths further back in third.
Scholfield said: “This horse has been winning – Tom Scudamore and Jonjo (O’Neill jnr) have won on him, and I can’t thank Mr (Martin) Tedham (owner) and Jonjo (senior) enough for giving me the chance today.
“They’re good people – I’m just grateful I got the opportunity. The horse is a star, and Jonjo was adamant that we’d go for this race. The race went perfectly for us, so I’m just grateful to them.”
4.09pm: Donoghue, a three-time winner of this race too thanks to Tiger Roll, was in awe of the latest performance.
“It’s unbelievable for him to come back and do it again,” he said.
“I’m just speechless – it’s absolutely brilliant. He means everything to me.
“If it wasn’t for this horse, I wouldn’t be riding. It’s as simple as that.
“Never underestimate the Tiger – a lot of people underestimated him. We all kept the faith in him – we know the horse he is, and he showed us that today.
“He loved it, and that’s the Tiger we’ve seen at home.
“I’m delighted he showed that on the track today. He’s just a legend.”
3.59pm: The remarkable Tiger Roll stormed to his fifth Cheltenham Festival victory and his third in the Glenfarclas Chase.
The 11-year-old dual Grand National winner returned to his best form, as a 9-2 shot here, to hand out an 18-length trouncing to even-money favourite Easysland – taking revenge on the French challenger for his defeat behind him in this race 12 months ago.
Tiger Roll will not be heading back to Aintree this year, having been taken out of the race by owners Gigginstown House Stud because they considered his handicap mark too high for him to have a chance of adding to his back-to-back titles there.
In the care of Denise Foster during long-time trainer Gordon Elliott’s well-chronicled ban, Tiger Roll was prominent throughout under Keith Donoghue and simply went further clear towards the end of the marathon contest – with Easysland his closest but vain pursuer.
Some Neck was third.
3.34pm: Put The Kettle On is the first mare to win the great race – which this year was minus its reigning champion after Politologue had to be withdrawn at almost the last minute on veterinary advice.
Coleman told ITV Racing: “She gave some fantastic jumps – three out, she was all wrong but she just threw herself at it and made ground up.
“It wasn’t ideal – but it’s just testament to her ability.
“She had two horses either side of her, and she just wasn’t getting passed.
“I beat off Chacun Pour Soi, and then Harry (Skelton, on Nube Negra) came – and she went again.
“If I could bottle what she has I wouldn’t have to ride again – I’d sell it, and be a rich man.”
Coleman insisted all praise should be reserved for Put The Kettle On, not him.
“I don’t want to take any plaudits for this – this mare is just something else,” he said.
“Whether she’s the best or not doesn’t matter – when you’ve got heart as much as she has, I don’t have to do a lot.
“She’d win that race loose if you put my weight in lead on her back – she just wants it that much.
“It was very special – pulling up was nearly emotional, because we all love these horses and we do it day in, day out for them.
“When you ride something that loves it and wants to win as much as this, it’s just a pleasure.
“It brings you back to your roots and why you wanted to get into the game – and that’s the love of the animal.
“You can’t watch this race and the jumps she put in and her attitude at the last and not really appreciate what they do for us.”
3.21pm: Put The Kettle On continued Henry de Bromhead’s brilliant 2021 Cheltenham Festival with victory in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase.
The mare, ridden by Aidan Coleman, followed up her shock success in last year’s Arkle with a battling performance to get the better of Nube Negra – with odds-on favourite Chacun Pour Soi only third.
At least three horses still held a big chance over the last fence – but as Chacun Pour Soi faded up the hill, Put The Kettle On (17-2) ran on decisively to give De Bromhead another major victory after Honeysuckle’s Champion Hurdle triumph on Tuesday.
Nube Negra stayed on to very good effect, from off the pace, but was beaten by half a length, with another length back to Chacun Pour Soi.
3.05pm: Champion Chase title-holder Politologue was a very late absentee from this year’s race, withdrawn on veterinary advice – leaving eight opponents for favourite Chacun Pour Soi.
2.58pm: Condon struggled to take in the victory, but was able to heap praise on the winning trainer.
“I can’t talk today, I’m absolutely speechless,” he said.
“All I can say is Paul Hennessy is a genius. It was actually unbelievable – with all the commotion down at the start (after two false starts), I thought they’d be going a mad gallop.
“But when I landed over the first I had an easy lead all the way to the finishing line.”
The mare was a course winner in a maiden hurdle back in October 2019.
Hennessy said: “We took a chance – and wasn’t Richie brilliant? He’s never ridden round here before, and he just took the race by the scruff of the neck.
“She’s just amazing – I can’t describe her.
“We bred her – she was born in Rathbawn, and I’ve raised her. The places she’s taken us is just ridiculous. It’s amazing – she’s my Enable.”
2.53pm: Outsider Heaven Help Us was a runaway winner of the Coral Cup.
Young jockey Richard Condon pulled off a perfect front-running ride, with the help of his 7lb claim, to dominate what is traditionally the most competitive of handicaps from start to finish.
Heaven Help Us, trained by Paul Hennessy, was another success for Ireland – clear almost from the outset, but not at a manic pace in such a big field, and well in control at the last when her nearest pursuer Blue Sari came down.
The 33-1 winner had nine lengths to spare at the line – followed home by Craigneiche, with another outsider Tea Clipper running well to be third, another two and a quarter lengths back.
2.30pm: Mullins added: “(It was) heart-stopping.
“I’ll have to thank James McCarthy, heart surgeon at the Blackrock clinic last year, for the good job he did on this.
“When he made a mistake at the last – or whatever he did – it’s even harder to watch on the replay.”
2.24pm: Townend admitted Monkfish’s win was not faultless.
“It wasn’t foot perfect today, but he’s got the job done – the further I got up the hill the better,” he said.
“Early on in the race we just weren’t on the same wavelength, I suppose.
“It’s a lot of pressure riding these fancied horses – don’t get me wrong, I know how lucky I am to be riding them, but you have to perform on them as well.
“He does things so easily but he’s still maturing, so he takes everything in – there’s plenty to look at out in the country, with the Jeep driving alongside us, plenty of people scattered around the track and the signs everywhere.
“He just looked at everything.”
Mullins could reflect on a case of all well that ended well after Monkfish had won at the Festival for the second year running.
“He put one in early at the fence going up the hill – he just seemed unsettled,” said the trainer.
“Paul asked him for one or two and got him back into his rhythm, and then he missed another one.
“I don’t want to go through that again – that was probably the most nerve-racking race I’ve ever watched.
“The fact that you’re 4-1 on in a three-mile novice chase going around Cheltenham, it can’t get any more nerve-racking than that.
“So much can go wrong.
“Then there’s only five or six runners, which makes him even more of a certainty. It’s there for him to lose, but it’s great now that he’s got the treble (of Grade One novice chases) – so he looks a smart one for the future anyway.”
2.11pm: The Mullins-trained Monkfish landed short odds with victory in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
The 1-4 favourite was always prominent, in the Rich Ricci colours due to be carried by another odds-on shot Chacun Pour Soi in the feature Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase later on the card.
There were two minor jumping blemishes from the giant chestnut, but nothing of serious note, and he took over from Colin Tizzard’s The Big Breakaway after that rival made a mistake of his own three out.
By the last, Monkfish had only the loose Eklat De Rire to worry about – after that opponent’s departure in the back straight – but he and jockey Paul Townend kept a true path and were six and a half lengths clear of The Big Breakaways’ long-priced stablemate Fiddlerontheroof at the line.
1.44pm: Blackmore was impressed as Bob Olinger took his winning sequence to three, and doubled his Grade One tally.
“It’s unbelievable,” she told ITV Racing.
“I’m so delighted for (owner) Brian Acheson and his family – he puts a lot into this game and he’s got a very special horse on his hands now.
“His potential is sky high, I’d say – he was phenomenal there.
“He won a point-to-point for Pat Doyle, and Henry got him then – anyone who’s ever been associated with him has thought an awful lot of him. Winning at Cheltenham is what it’s all about. and he’s done that now.
“There’ll be plenty of big days in him hopefully, but it’s just fantastic for everyone in the yard.”
1.33pm: Champion Hurdle winners Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead were back in the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure again as Bob Olinger took the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle – the opening race on day two of the Festival.
Blackmore, who made history on Tuesday as the first female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle on De Bromhead’s mare Honeysuckle, scored her second success of the meeting on 6-4 favourite Bob Olinger.
On St Patrick’s Day, Willie Mullins’ Gaillard Du Mesnil made it an Irish one-two – but there was no doubting the well-backed winner’s superiority.
Blackmore tracked the pace set by chief British hope Bravemansgame, took over up the Cheltenham hill and was already three lengths clear at the last en route to victory by seven and a half.
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