It looks so simple, doesn’t it? Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Faugheen and Annie Power are all going to justify short-priced favouritism in a canter today. Punters everywhere are going to get rich. Form an orderly queue.
Bookmakers would have you believe that they are facing bankruptcy but Cheltenham races are not run on paper and outsiders have a habit of spoiling the party. Here are possibly the ten greatest gatecrashers in Festival history.
1990 NORTON’S COIN (100-1, Gold Cup)
Sirrell Griffiths, a cattle farmer who cared for three horses, wanted Norton’s Coin to have another crack at the now defunct Cathcart Chase but the nine-year-old was ineligible and, to make matters worse, he had also missed the deadline for the meeting’s various handicaps. Griffiths was reluctantly left with no option but to go for gold. Meanwhile, the mighty Desert Orchid was back to defend his crown and had carried all before him in the build-up, winning a third King George (Norton’s Coin was a distant last) and putting up an imperious display in the Racing Post Chase on his previous start. The most popular horse in training started 10-11 favourite and the bookies stood to lose an estimated £10 million on him. As usual, the grey bowled along in the lead but Ten Of Spades and Kildimo, who would both fall, hassled him. That took its toll, with Toby Tobias and Norton’s Coin, who had been patiently ridden, pouncing between the last two fences. The pair fought out a gripping finish, with the latter, ridden by Graham McCourt, getting on top in the final 50 yards. Griffiths, who had risen at 4am that day to milk his 70 cows, had one more surprise to reveal: his 100-1 winner had finished lame after being kicked by Toby Tobias before the start. He won only one of his subsequent 18 races.
1989 BEECH ROAD (50-1, Champion Hurdle)
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Jackpot punters should have stayed in bed for the opening day of the 1989 Festival. Sondrio (25-1) and Waterloo Boy (20-1) won the first two races and then Beech Road turned the formbook upside down in the Champion Hurdle. Having lost eight hurdle races in a row, Toby Balding switched Beech Road to fences in mid-season; then aborted that idea after the seven-year-old suffered successive falls. He considered running Beech Road in handicap company at the meeting but his decision to go for broke was rewarded handsomely as he beat Celtic Chief and Celtic Shot. The previously undefeated Kribensis, the 11-8 favourite, was only seventh.
1983 A KINSMAN (50-1, World Hurdle)
Michael Dickinson fielded the market leaders in four contests on the opening day of the 1983 Festival. All of them were beaten. Punters were still digesting those reverses when the diminutive A Kinsman, owned and trained by John Brockbank, from Cumbria, popped up at 50-1 the following day under Geordie Dun, the former champion amateur from Scotland. A Kinsman upstaged Forgive ‘N’ Forget in the RSA Chase a year later, when a more modest 10-1.
1965 KIRRIEMUIR (50-1, Champion Hurdle)
Fulke Walwyn is synonymous with the Festival, his 40 winners at the meeting between 1946 and 1986 including four different Gold Cup winners. Few of his runners slipped under the radar but Kirriemuir, having struggled in handicaps during the season, was an exception. On the day that mattered, the five-year-old, a seven-time winner the previous campaign, refound his vigour and seized the initiative under Willie Robinson shortly after the final flight. Spartan General, ridden by Terry Biddlecombe, kept on strongly in the closing stages but Kirriemuir repelled him.
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1982 FOR AUCTION (40-1, Champion Hurdle)
A week before the Festival, Sea Pigeon, winner of the previous two renewals of the Champion Hurdle, was retired. His exit heralded the end of a wonderful era and opened the door for new faces to emerge. For Auction, trained in Ireland by Michael Cunningham, jumped the penultimate flight in the lead but Broadsword, the leading British fancy, and Ekbalco were travelling strongly in his slipstream and seemed sure to sweep past. For Auction was relishing the rain-softened ground, though, and surged away from the pair under Colin Magnier, his amateur jockey, for an emphatic victory.
1999 ANZUM (40-1, World Hurdle)
It was little wonder that most had put a line through the name of Anzum. The David Nicholson-trained gelding routinely engaged top gear too late in his races and had not won for three years. Le Coudray, Lady Rebecca and Deano’s Beeno dominated the market and looked to be calling all the shots at the top of the hill, where Anzum was apparently going nowhere. Richard Johnson kept urging, though, and, bit by bit, his mount got the message — overhauling Le Coudray near the finish to win by a neck.
1970 L’ESCARGOT (33-1, Gold Cup)
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Dan Moore had wanted to run L’Escargot, a speedy recruit from America, in the two-mile Champion Chase but Raymond Guest, his owner, had other ideas. Guest’s intuition served him well as L’Escargot kept on stoutly to hold off French Tan and Spanish Steps after Kinloch Brae, the 15-8 favourite, had fallen three out when in the lead. L’Escargot retained his crown the following year and won the Grand National in 1975. Humble pie never tasted so good.
2004 HARDY EUSTACE (33-1, Champion Hurdle)
The 2004 Champion Hurdle was meant to be all about Rooster Booster. The popular grey had romped home by 11 lengths the previous year and, on official ratings, he had 10lb and upwards in hand of his rivals. He seemed sure to justify his cramped odds when nosing ahead of front-running Hardy Eustace jumping the last but the Irish challenger, equipped with blinkers after a barren year, powered back past him up the hill. He won again a year later.
1992 COOL GROUND (25-1, Gold Cup)
The most controversial Gold Cup of all time ended with Cool Ground, a first ride in the race for Adrian Maguire, edging out The Fellow by a short head. Carvill’s Hill, officially rated the best since Desert Orchid, had started even-money favourite to win the eight-runner contest but capitulated two out after being controversially taken on for the lead by Golden Freeze, regarded by many as a “spoiler”. Sadly, Carvill’s Hill suffered multiple injuries and never ran again.
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1981 DRUMGORA (25-1, Champion Chase)
The Irish were expected to gain another Champion Chase victory in 1981 and duly did, but not with the horse most expected. Anaglogs Daughter, a bold-jumping front-runner, had been a spectacular winner of the Arkle Trophy Chase the previous year and started favourite to become the first mare to win the two-mile crown. However, she was not at her best, being overhauled by the unconsidered Drumgora, who provided Arthur Moore with his first Festival success.