The Cheltenham Festival roared back into the public consciousness with a sensational opening day that saw Lossiemouth, and jockey Paul Townend, claim the Champion Hurdle spoils in the latest act of glory for this legendary horse.
The Willie Mullins-trained mare, famed for her grey coat, headlined the first champion race of the four-day festival and was a class above the rest of the field. And that is saying something, as the race featured previous Cheltenham winners Golden Ace and Poniros, as well as Dan Skelton’s favoured The New Lion, who hoped to threaten but failed to make his move early enough.
Lossiemouth was only confirmed for the race at the weekend but quickly became the pre-race favourite and set off at 7/5 odds to the full backing of a packed grandstand. However, there remained a question over her quality and whether she could handle a competitive champion race, having only previously won novice and mares hurdles here.
The seven-year-old has an unbeaten record at Cheltenham Racecourse, including four Festival wins after her win today. She won the Triumph Hurdle in 2023 and dominated the Mares’ Hurdle in each of the last two years. Yet today’s victory will prove to be her magnum opus with doubts high (from industry insiders, not spectators) before she powered through the long stretch home to rapturous applause from the grandstand.
Skelton’s The New Lion had been hotly tipped to triumph, having won five of his last six races, including here at Cheltenham’s Trials Day back in January. However, jockey Harry Skelton held him in fifth for the majority of the race, and the gap was too large after Lossiemouth made her move down the hill. Golden Ace, meanwhile, overperformed in this race last season, having taken advantage of State Man’s fall to sprint through to victory, and there was to be no similar story this time around.
The closest challenger was Irish horse Brighterdaysahead, the third favourite at 7/2. The Gordon Elliott-trained mare had beaten Lossiemouth in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and set the early pace here. Taking to the front over the second fence, she led up the back hill and attempted to pull away heading towards home. That was when Lossiemouth, ridden to perfection by Townend, made her move, first drawing level and then jumping into the lead at the second-to-last fence.
There was no stopping her either as Lossiemouth increased the pace to extend her victory to around five lengths by the time she passed the winning post, cementing her status as a Festival great.
Earlier, the day had started in frustration for many racegoers who were hampered by train delays, but once the Cheltenham roar cried out, those feelings were replaced with joy, exhilaration and, at times, sadness and disappointment.
With cloudy, overcast conditions forecast, it was surprising when the sun came out and shone down on the course through most of the morning. That helped dry out the ground to a good, good to soft going, which helped the horses set a slightly quicker pace.
That was clear in the first race of the day, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, as Old Park Star swept to first place in a closely contested outing. Sober Glory, marshalled by jockey Ben Jones, led the whole way round the course with the Nicky Henderson favourite sat just off his shoulder on the outside. Yet when he struck the last hurdle too heavily, he stumbled upon landing and allowed Old Park Star and Mydaddypaddy – of the Skelton yard – to close the gap. All three horses charged up the hill neck and neck before Nico de Boinville utilised the better positioning to win by a length and a half.
It was the first winner of the 2026 Festival for trainer Henderson, who has already equalled his tally of two winners from last year. Doddiethegreat was a huge outsider then, but Jango Baie, who won the Arkle in 2025, is set to challenge for the Gold Cup on Friday and could bring another big victory for the 75-year-old Englishman.
Henderson almost made it two from two in the Arkle as well. His horse, Lulamba, set off as the favourite – probably helped in the backing by Old Park Star winning for the same trainer and jockey earlier – and for most of the race he was tracking well. De Boinville held him in second until the second-to-last hurdle, but he failed to kick on as Kopek Des Bordes and Kargese battled to the finish. Both are charges of Willie Mullins and it was the former who had been tipped to perform strongly. However, a mistake at the last jump halted his progress and he couldn’t make up the ground to catch his stablemate.
"She [Kargese] had far more experience. I thought Kopek raced a great race,” Mullins reflected afterwards. "Just the mistake at the last – I think he would have won. Excellent for Danny [Mullins, the jockey]. We all need Cheltenham winners. Fabulous to get a winner.”
Elsewhere, JP McManus celebrated his 75th birthday in style as he scored back-to-back winners, with Saratoga beating Winston Junior in the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle and 18/1 Johnnywho pipping hot favourite Jagwar in the Ultima.
The final two races of the day saw Skelton’s Madara (the Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase) and Henderson’s Holloway Queen (the Novices Handicap Chase) come good to leave the British in pole position heading into Ladies Day. The final word, however, must be reserved for the sad death of Hansard. The Irish horse suffered a fatal injury in the Arkle Steeplechase and had to be put down by medical personnel at the course.
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