Horse racing was created in the first instance as a wagering mechanism and for many it still is but to see and celebrate Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore winning back to back Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham today elevated it to be a lot more special than a winning bet.
She was the favourite and was the selection of most but this Championship meeting has a habit of making fools of those who are ‘in the know’ and hotter favourites have gone down in years gone by.
The sight of her moving through the gears and accelerating away from her rivals today was heartening and the big difference between this year and last was that she and her jockey were staking their claim to greatness in front of a crowd of 55,000 more than they did last year in the midst of a Covid lockdown.
The images above from Virgin Media’s coverage from the track give a sense of just how popular this win was.
There was a greater sense of the traditional rivalry between British and Irish trained horses today with trainer Nicky Henderson winning two of the four that went to the home team and Ireland hitting the mark in the final two races to finish on a total of three. Last year the raiding party won 23 of the 27 contests.
Willie Mullins, Padraig Roche and Henry de Bromhead provided the three Irish winners and it all gets underway again in the Cotswolds at 1-30 PM tomorrow.
