Comebacks, longshots and cruel disappointments: what makes Cheltenham Festival great

No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It wasn’t just an extraordinary Gold Cup — in that six horses jumped the last with a chance of winning and at least two jockeys will go to their graves believing they were denied a victory that should have been theirs: the blanket finish had to be investigated fully by the stewards before the result was confirmed. What kept crowds of 60,000 or so entranced were the endless series of back stories, of comebacks that worked and comebacks that didn’t, of opportunities taken and cruel disappointments.

Jim Culloty, who had ridden Best Mate to his three victories in the race and who trained the Gold Cup winner Lord Windermere, hadn’t produced a winner for 196 days until his Spring Heeled won the day before. Davy Russell, who rode Lord Windermere, had been dropped as its top jockey by Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud.