Disappointment for Cork horse Home by the Lee at Cheltenham

There was no joy for Sean and Rose O’Driscoll’s Home By The Lee at Cheltenham on Thursday afternoon in the featured Stayers’ Hurdle.

This was his fourth tilt at the staying prize having finished sixth, fifth, and third previously in the race. He arrived at Cheltenham with victories in the Lismullen Hurdle and the Savills Hurdle this season.

He was quickly on the back foot after a mistake at the first and he was badly hampered, unseating JJ Slevin at the sixth. 

After Crambo with Cork jockey Jonathan Burke fell, Rachael Blackmore landed the featured Stayers’ Hurdle aboard Bob Olinger to complete a memorable Cheltenham double on day three of the festival at Prestbury Park.

He landed a gamble in the process, beating last year’s winner Teahupoo in a thrilling duel up the famous Cheltenham hill, both horses owned by Brian Acheson. Bob Olinger maintained his unbeaten record at the festival and at the track where he is four from four, with three of those victories at the festival.

Blackmore spoke glowingly of him after: “He has so much speed and he could use it.”

WHIRLWIND

Blackmore started the day in whirlwind fashion winning on Air Of Entitlement to claim her first victory at this year’s festival. She swooped to conquer the heavily backed favourite Sixandahalf in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Blackmore was sidelined for three months with a neck injury after a fall at Downpatrick. She now has 18 victories at the festival. It’s an impressive portfolio after a stop-start campaign. She was sidelined for three months after falling at Downpatrick last September on the De Bromhead-trained Hand Over Fist. By his very high standards, Henry De Bromhead had a relatively quiet start to the year and winners were scarce in January and early February.

However, form is temporary and class is permanent and nobody knows how to get them cherry-ripe for Cheltenham quite like Henry.

The well-known Youghal professional punter Johnny Dineen has developed a huge following on the popular podcast Upping The Ante along with the Racing Post’s David Jennings.

Punters had been immersed in something of a bloodbath on the opening two days of the festival with four beaten odds-on jollies.

The straight-talking Dineen was particularly bullish about Fact To File in the day’s twin feature, the Ryanair Chase.

He’d nominated him in the ante-post market at an attractive price a few weeks ago, and he was napped by the intrepid Youghal punter in the trade paper and in cameo appearances on terrestrial television.

The well-documented doubts about the second favourite, Il Est Francais, who has a history of bursting blood vessels, in essence made the market for the jolly who was backed into 6/4 from an attractive 15/8.

Earlier in the week, I’d anticipated that he’d go off at a shade of odds-on.