The way of these things is that Boodles Gold Cup day will be remembered for how Inothewayurthinkin dethroned Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup. As footnotes go, however, Willie Mullins’s 7,069/1 four-timer before it will always take some topping.
The champion trainer might swap it for another shot at a Galopin hat-trick but the momentum it generated before the big race was memorable by any standard.
It took Mullins to 10 winners for the week, equalling his record 2022 tally, and taking him to 113 festival winners in all. Once again, he was clear leading trainer for the week, and there was even a bit of history in it.
Another way of these things is how easy it is to remember a big SP, and Poniros at 100/1 was a historic JCB Triumph Hurdle winner.
Another big day for Willie Mullins at Cheltenham despite Galopin Des Champs defeat
Cheltenham 2025 day four: Inothewayurthinkin wins Gold Cup – As it happened
JP McManus’s Inothewayurthinkin ends Galopin Des Champs’s hopes of Gold Cup hat-trick
Outstanding Galopin Des Champs aiming to seal his legacy with Cheltenham Gold Cup hat-trick
On his first start over jumps, and against the top British pair Lulamba and East India Dock, Poniros became the joint longest-priced festival winner ever. Most famous of all is the 1990 Gold Cup hero Norton’s Coin but the only other was the long-forgotten Hipparchus in 1954.
Those who knew that are surely as rare as those who backed Poniros, considering Mullins gave him no earthly shout.
“We bought him in October, schooled him and gave him a break. We said we’d better drag him in from the field and get him ready for Cheltenham, and that’s what we did. But I didn’t expect any more than a nice run,” Mullins admitted.
The same comment resolutely didn’t apply to either Kargese (County Hurdle) or Dinoblue (Mares’ Chase) who had favourite backers roaring them home.
It was fourth time lucky at the festival for Dinoblue who relished the decent ground conditions and looked in charge anyway when her stable companion Allegorie De Vassy fell at the last.
“Last year people said I gave her too much to do, but I actually couldn’t go on the heavy ground. Today she travelled well and jumped brilliantly, and I’m delighted she got her head in front. She jumps off the good ground so much better than the heavy ground,” the winning jockey Mark Walsh said.
Dropped to handicap company, Kargese’s habit of pulling her rider’s arms out didn’t count for as much and she delivered Paul Townend a record fifth County victory.
“She was keen all right,” said Townend. “That’s her, though, she has the heart of a lion. I was in front a lot sooner than I wanted. But it might have actually helped me that when I got there, she parked a little bit and gave herself a breath of air.”
Momentum was firmly on the side of the Mullins team going into the Albert Bartlett and Townend pulled off another vintage festival effort, bringing last year’s Bumper champion Jasmin De Vaux from last to first to hold off The Big Westerner.
Over the longer three-mile trip, Jasmin De Vaux’s suspect jumping wasn’t put under so much pressure and The Big Westerner running into trouble on the inner after the second last didn’t hurt either.
Gold Cup success brought JP McManus’s tally for the week to six winners, and it looked like seven in the Hunters’ Chase only for Its On The Line to finish runner-up for a third year in a row. Sam Curling’s 28/1 shot Wonderwall saved the day for bookies under jockey Sam James.
“We are big into point-to-pointing and this is the race you want to win for that. It’s our championship race,” said Co Tipperary-based Curling.
Danny Gilligan had his second winner of the week in the concluding Martin Pipe as he prevented a rare Gordon Elliott blank on board Wodhooh.
