Willie Mullins has sent more than 800 horses to Cheltenham over the last quarter of a century, many of which were hot favourites with millions riding on their chance, and welcomed back nearly 100 as winners at the Festival. Yet he still said after winning his third Gold Cup with Galopin Des Champs here on Friday that he had felt more pressure both before and during the race than at any stage of his long career.
On the face of it, that might seem surprising, as Galopin Des Champs set off as the 7-5 favourite and eventually came home with a comfortable seven-length winning margin over Bravemansgame. But that tells only a fraction of the story of a race that gripped the attention from first to last.
