Cheltenham Festival 2022: Snapshot review

Four days, 28 races, 405 of the classiest horses in National Hunt racing. Not being a fan of oppressively massive crowds or paying £2,756 for a pint, I wasn’t at the Cheltenham Festival, but I had arguably the best seat in the house: in front of the TV on the seafront. And it was glorious.

Day One, Tuesday 15 March: The crowds were back but the famous roar was scuppered by a messy false start – but that, thankfully, did not set the scene for the racing to follow. In the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, expert riding from Nico de Boinville allowed Constitution Hill to avoid getting caught up in Dysart Dynamo’s fall. The five year-old stormed past Jonbon to claim a staggering 22-length victory. Shortly after, Edwardstone took his fifth straight win since November, passing the post four-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of the competition in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase.

The Big One: Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy was hotly contested, but all eyes were on one mare. Unbeaten Honeysuckle didn’t disappoint, going strongly in the midfield under Rachael Blackmore before moving into the lead two out. I can’t repeat my exact words as my mother will read this, but it was along the lines of “HERE SHE [redacted] COMES!” And come she did, fluidly and without breaking a sweat, to win her 15th consecutive race by three-and-a-half lengths.

Day Two, Wednesday 16 March: The heavens opened on day two of the Festival, and as the clerk of the course had watered the ground the previous night there will likely be ongoing debate about the impact this had on runners. Favourite Bravemansgame and popular each-way bet Nube Negra were among 11 non-runners due to unsuitable ground, and in the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle eight of the runners pulled up over the course of the race. The ground proved no obstacle for Willie Mullins-trained Sir Gerhard in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, however, and in the Novices’ Chase that followed, Venetia Williams’ L’Homme Presse relished the mud. More on the Glenfarclas Chase later…

The Big One: The Queen Mother Champion Chase was billed to be the big rematch between Shishkin and Energumene. However, Shishkin never really hit his stride, jumping slowly, lacking fluency and simply not looking himself – pulling up just after the eighth. This opened the competition considerably, but despite Funambule Sivola putting up a fight, Energumene jumped to a clear lead and won by eight-and-a-half lengths, to the evident joy of an emotional Mullins.

Day Three, Thursday 17 March: St Patrick’s Day was undoubtedly a good one for the Irish – although in the first, the Turners Novices’ Chase, there was no other outcome as there were only four runners and they all hailed from the Emerald Isle. Despite that it was not without drama, as Galopin Des Champs fell at the last when 12 lengths clear of his rivals. It left Bob Olinger to take the crown, a further 40 lengths ahead of the other runners. Irish Gold Cup winner Conflated was also a surprise faller later in the Ryanair Chase, but none were real competition for the eventual winner Allaho; the eight year-old making all and jumping well to win easily.

The Big One: The Stayers’ Hurdle saw old rivals Thyme Hill and Paisley Park fight out second and third places. The former took second by a nose but not for lack of Paisley bravely fighting from the back of the field. For a moment it looked like he might challenge last year’s winner Flooring Porter, but Danny Mullins steered Flooring Porter to a well-deserved second victory in the race. The pair made all and joined the ranks of back-to-back winners such as Big Buck’s and Inglis Drever.

Day Four, Friday 18 March: Gold Cup day was all about the Mullins team – favourites Vauban and State Man won the Triumph Hurdle and County Handicap Hurdle respectively, before Mullins took first and second place in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle with The Nice Guy and Minella Cocooner. Well, it was almost all about Mullins, until…

The Big One: I’m writing this only moments after the Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase has finished, and I am still grinning like a lunatic. What a race. Until about three out, it was still really anybody’s game, with all the serious contenders still going strongly. And then Rachael Blackmore made her move on A Plus Tard, aiming to go one better than last year’s second place. The pair went a lot better. They powered ahead, leaving the rest in the dust to win the Gold Cup by 15 clear lengths. Rachael is now the first female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle, the Grand National and now the Gold Cup – and perhaps even more importantly, she doesn’t see herself as a female jockey. She’s simply a jockey…just a bloody brilliant one who is the monarch of all she surveys.

Story of the week: I could shout for days about Blackmore, and indeed in the days, weeks and months to come, I probably will. However, that isn’t my story of the week. It’s rare that a second place in a non-feature race can occupy more column inches than most of the other Festival winners put together, but if there was one horse that could do it, it would surely be this one.

The fortunes of Tiger Roll have peaked and troughed over a nine-year career but the public’s love for him has never waned. Much has been made of the various owner decisions over which races to run Tiger in, but wherever and whenever he ran, the little horse gave his all to it. Over his career he chalked up five Festival wins and, of course, the two back-to-back Grand National victories of 2018 and 2019.

The owners and trainer Gordon Elliott had been clear that the Festival this year would be Tiger Roll’s last outing on a racecourse. Unfortunately, the heavy rain on Wednesday made the ground significantly out of his favour – not to mention his recent form. But as if to show us all that he is all heart, he sat well in the Glenfarclas Chase before moving forward to join the leaders at the 22nd, taking the lead from the 25th.

The fairytale wasn’t quite to be: stablemate Delta Work rallied at the last, caught the Tiger and beat him to the finish line by a mere three-quarters of a length. But Tiger Roll gave us what we wanted and what he deserved: a gallant fight and the passing of the baton to another great contender.

He retires on a high after a fabulous career, and the whole racing community thanks him for his service to the sport. Happy retirement, Tiger.