Cheltenham Day One: Lossiemouth leaves Champion Hurdle rivals toiling

Press Association

Follow the action from day one of the Cheltenham Festival here.

4.17pm

Lossiemouth swept aside all rivals to claim a brilliant victory in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The 7-5 favourite after opting for this race over the Mares’ Hurdle, a contest she has won twice, she was one of three Willie Mullins-trained runners and the choice of stable jockey Paul Townend.

The grey mare’s Cheltenham record was flawless going into Tuesday’s feature race and remained so afterwards, never looking in any sort of trouble ahead of a six-and-a-half-length defeat of Brighterdaysahead as The New Lion came home in third.

Alexei ran a big race in fourth, just ahead of gallant defending champion Golden Ace.

3.45pm

Saratoga provided owner JP McManus with the perfect birthday present when striking in the McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.

One of three horses running in the green and gold silks of McManus, who was celebrating his 75th birthday, the Padraig Roche-trained grey was a 10-1 chance under Mark Walsh.

The former Flat performer made light work of the 22-runner contest, strolling home ahead of Winston Junior to emulate his half-brother Brazil’s success in 2022 for the same owner, trainer and jockey combination.

McManus said: “We’ve always had a lot of fun and great days here. It’s a place which means so much to so many and I’m delighted to see this one win for Padraig.

“Every winner is special and I go back a long time with Padraig’s father Christy. We won this race with Brazil a few years ago and they were praying the ground would be fast and every day it was drying out was a bonus.

“I’ve had winners here on my birthday before, but you never get tired of it.”

Roche added: “It’s near enough the same route we took with Brazil and we’ve always thought this race would suit him.

“Getting nice horses is half the battle in this game and I’m delighted Frank (Berry, racing manager) and JP decided to buy him.

“Today really mattered, but I’m sure we’ll find out down the road if he’s a bit better than a handicapper.”

McManus had more to celebrate in the very next race as he scored a one-two via Johnnywho (18-1) and Jagwar in the Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase.

Johnnywho, who is trained by Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, just managed to sidestep Search For Glory after he unseated his rider at the last before reeling in the front-running Quebecois on the run to the line.

He then had to dig deep for jockey Richie McLernon with 3-1 favourite Jagwar delivering a last-gasp challenge, holding on by a head.

It was a first Festival winner for AJ O’Neill since joining his father on the licence at Jackdaws Castle, and he said: “That was fantastic, Richie gave him an unbelievable ride.

“He’s threatened to land a big one on a couple of occasions. He obviously went close in the Kim Muir last year and it’s great to come back and go one better.

“When I saw Jagwar coming I was just hoping we could keep our nose in front and luckily we were able to do that.”

2.16pm 

Kargese sprang a minor surprise as she made all for victory in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.

Sent off a 7-1 shot with all eyes on her Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Kopek Des Bordes and Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba, Kargese was given a perfect front-running ride from Danny Mullins.

The mare was clearly still travelling well turning for home and while both the market leaders tried to challenge, in particular Kopek Des Bordes, she held firm up the hill and kept finding to win by two and a quarter lengths from her fellow Mullins runner, with the jumping of the runner-up and third horse Lulamba leaving a bit to be desired at the business end.

2.08pm 

Ante-post favourite Old Park Star battled to get his head in front and claim the Skybet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the opening race of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.

Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten hurdler came into the race as the 15-8 market leader under Nico de Boinville, and remained handily placed as Sober Glory made the running, with market rival Mighty Park tracking them for Ireland.

The latter dropped away quite quickly, however, and as the hill approached it was Mydaddypaddy who loomed and attempted to throw down his own challenge.

But he was unable to outdo Old Park Star, who pressed on again to come out on top by a length and a half from Sober Glory, with Mydaddypaddy a nose away in third.

Henderson, winning the race for a sixth time, received a raucous round of applause from those gathered around the winner’s enclosure, and said: “We’ve been here a long time, so we’ve got to know each other!

“This is a race that’s been kind to us over the years. It’s always a good race and the best novice hurdlers are all coming out to play.

“You have to have a good horse and we’re very lucky they’ve come along – it’s a long time since our first one in River Ceiriog (1986).

“Constitution Hill was obviously freaky when he won it and then your Altiors and Shishkins went on to jump fences and I would imagine that will be next year’s game for this horse.

“On a day we’ve said goodbye to Constitution Hill (over jumps), it’s nice to come straight in and a bring on a new one we hope could be a star.

“These young horses keep you going and I’m not going anywhere unless they want to pension us off!

“The first race on the first day is the best one you can get and England are one up (over Ireland)! I don’t know if we’ll be saying that on Friday night, but we’ll keep trying.”

He added: “It got tough up there. Turning into the straight he had to quicken off what looked a good, solid pace – he had to be brave to come up the hill like that.

“He’s still a big baby in our opinion – I think in another year he’ll be a much better horse.

“He’s quick and tough and his jumping is sound. He’s got a huge future in front of him.”

Also well as the winner, the second, third and fourth were all trained in Britain, the only four home-based runners in the race.

Joint-trainer Johnson White said of Sober Glory: “I couldn’t be more delighted with the run, obviously very disappointed to finish second, particularly as it looked like he would win it going to the last, but as we said before today, we would have accepted that result before the race.

“He’s a lovely horse going forward for his future career, so I’m pleased to be standing here and he’s run a very brave race. He’s a gorgeous horse and we can’t wait to get him back out again.”

Asked if his future is over fences next season White, who trains alongside Philip Hobbs, said: “Very much so. Well, I say very much so, depending on what we do the rest of the season, potentially Aintree, as to whether we keep him going. Options are open, but we’ve got lovely options available.

“That would be the quickest ground he’s run on. He’s travelled well on it and we couldn’t be, well we could have been a slight little bit happier, but he’s run great.

“Ben (Jones) thought he had it won at the last. He just thought the bigger crowd and the bigger stage, he just hit the front and had a little bit of a look, which is understandable, but overall, very pleased. But finishing second is never quite the same.”

Dan Skelton said of Mydaddypaddy: “It was an almighty run from a five-year-old, I couldn’t be prouder of the horse.

“He left nothing out there and we’ll look forward to coming back in the Arkle next year. The winner will probably be favourite again but I would hope we have something to say about that.

“It was a bit rough and tumble, but I don’t think it’s made any difference to the second or third winning and the winner was very good today.”

Alan King’s Baron Noir was fourth and he said: “He’s confirmed the Punchestown bumper form with El Cairos (fifth) and I couldn’t be more chuffed. He’s an exciting horse.”