There was a moment just after the field jumped the third-last in the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday when Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore’s pale blue silks were out of sight on the big screen, as Appreciate It, the second-favourite, pounded down the hill on the inside. Two strides later, with an actor’s sense of timing, they entered stage right, pulling out from Appreciate It’s slipstream to sit on his shoulder, and Blackmore heard the first rumblings of the noise that would carry them all the way back to the winners’ enclosure.
It was the perfect antidote to the sound of silence 12 months ago, when horse and rider climbed the hill in front of an official attendance of only 41 people. The roar went up another notch as they cleared the second-last, and towards a crescendo when Blackmore sent Honeysuckle bounding into the lead around the home turn. As soon as the odds-on favourite was safely over the last, the celebrations could begin.
