A record equaling 14 winners for Irish-trained horses, a series of displays to live long in the memory and a coveted Gold Cup triumph for Don Cossack – once again the Cheltenham Festival delivered in style.

The level of expectation accompanying those four days at Prestbury Park is unique in racing and it truly was another epic edition of this meeting. Of all the prizes on offer at Cheltenham, the most coveted of all is the Gold Cup and this year’s hopes were sky-high that it would be coming back to Ireland.

On his favoured drying ground, Don Dossack put it all together for Gordon Elliott and Bryan Cooper to deny compatriot Djakadam. What would have happened had Cue Card not fallen at the third last is anyone’s guess but this victory marked the utter and definite vindication of Elliott’s belief in his charge who had been touted as a likely Gold Cup winner since his bumper days.

In all it was a terrific week for Elliott who also made his mark with Diamond King and Cause Of Causes as well as sending out a host of placed runners.

The trainer did have to endure a significant blow with the loss of top novice chaser No More Heroes in the RSA but this meeting marked the climax of the young trainer’s stratospheric rise up the ranks.

For the fourth year in succession, Willie Mullins had to settle for second in the Gold Cup but he enjoyed an exceptional week. A total of seven winners and seven seconds represented a tremendous haul for the champion trainer.

Standout moment

The standout moment for Mullins was Annie Power’s Champion Hurdle victory where she cemented her position as one of the great mares with an ultra smooth and assured front-running effort.

Indeed it was a terrific week for the Mullins-trained mares with Vroum Vroum Mag bagging a Grade 1 and Limini landing the newly introduced mares novices hurdle. Vroum Vroum Mag is still unbeaten for Mullins and it is hard to know where the summit of her abilities lie while Limini will be worth watching out for in some big flat handicaps in the summer.

A late change of heart by the trainer in several instances proved inspired and the decision to switch Vautour from the Gold Cup to the Ryanair paid maximum dividends with that gelding producing another top-drawer effort. Vautour’s late defection from the Gold Cup caused no small amount of controversy but he bounced back from a troubled preparation in remarkable fashion and it is to be hoped that some day he will get the chance to line up in a Gold Cup. Meanwhile Douvan once again showed that he is a chaser of simply limitless potential with a most clinical display in the Arkle.

Elsewhere the Mullins-trained Yorkhill looked a novice hurdle of the highest calibre in besting Yanworth while the decision to go down the JLT route with Black Hercules was vindicated in style.

First in history

The victory of Black Hercules was a particularly significant one as it saw Ruby Walsh become the first rider in history to notch up 50 wins at the festival. It was more than appropriate that this win should come courtesy of Mullins who got Walsh off the mark for the meeting with Alexander Banquet all the way back in 1998.

Elsewhere, Colm Murphy got back in the big time with Empire Of Dirt whose win in the Plate was the first for an Irish horse in this race since 1982. It has been a trying few seasons for Murphy but there have been definite signs of a resurgence in recent months and this was definitely one of the most popular winners of the week.

Some 16 years after he was last successful at Cheltenham, Aidan O’Brien was back in the winners’ enclosure with Ivanovich Gorbatov in the Triumph. The gelding’s preparation has been overseen by Joseph O’Brien and the part he played in this victory bodes especially well for the recently retired jockey who is set to start training under his own name in the summer.

A gritty On The Fringe confirmed himself the king of the hunter chasing scene by landing the Foxhunters for Nina Carberry and Enda Bolger while the win of Mall Dini in the Pertemps was also one to savour. His trainer Pat Kelly hadn’t had a runner at the meeting for 22 years but the former dual Galway Hurdle-winning trainer showed just what he is capable of given the raw material in producing this six-year-old in such great form.

Aside from the Irish horses, a reference to the meeting cannot pass without mention of Nicky Henderson’s wondrous effort in getting Sprinter Sacre back to the peak of his powers to claim the Queen Mother. This former champion looked down and out when pulling up at last year’s meeting and it seemed that the end was nigh for Sprinter Sacre so for Henderson to get him back to this level represents a training feat for the ages.