Cheltenham was the perfect antidote to election politics

I can only be sorry for the 67,496,581 citizens of the UK who were not at Cheltenham last Saturday. For the 33,591 of us who were there, it could not have been a more heart-warming, thrilling and character-filled way of escaping from the insulting knavery of election politics and the sourness of the weather that it so perfectly reflects. There is nothing like being in a crowd of 30,000 enthusiasts who mostly like a bet but who will cheer courage, stamina or quality whether or not they have backed the winner.

Many in the crowd remembered how Kerry Lee’s Happy Diva had unluckily been brought down four fences out in the BetVictor Gold Cup a year before when travelling like a winner. This time it looked as though the mare might be denied again: there is nothing a jump jockey fears more than seeing Barry Geraghty in the McManus hoops looming up, driving for all he is worth as the winning post approaches.