Ben Linfoot reflects on a dramatic week at Cheltenham with his analysis on the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase and Gold Cup.

It was a hugely dramatic opening day at Prestbury Park as the Cheltenham Festival gets underway. The Champion Hurdle is the feature race of the day and the script was torn up, as Constitution Hill, the winner of the race in 2023, fell to leave punters disappointed.

General admission for the Gold Cup has sold out, with nearly 70,000 spectators gathered at Prestbury Park. The total attendance for the week is still expected to pass 200,000 but will be significantly down on the record 280,

Galopin Des Champs was denied a third straight win in horse racing's Cheltenham Gold Cup when he was beaten by Inothewayurthinkin in the prestigious jumps race on Friday. Only four horses, including greats Arkle and Best Mate,

The unpredictability of horse racing was hammered home as instead of joining Golden Miller, Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate as three-time winners of the Boodles Gold Cup, Galopin Des Champs joined a succession of beaten odds-on shots at this year’s Festival after he was put firmly in his place by Inothewayurthinkin.