As it happened: Cheltenham Festival day 1, minute-by-minute
CARNAGE: State Man, with Paul Townend up, fall at the last fence during the Champion Hurdle. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
The National Hunt Chase result
1. Haiti Couleurs 7/2f
2. Rock My Way 16/1
3. Will Do 12/1
4. Resplendent 10/1
Haiti Couleurs wins the National Hunt Chase for Rebecca Curtis.
They are off in the National Hunt Chase.
The final race of day one is the National Hunt Chase.
The Fred Winter result
1. Puturhandstogether 17/2
2. Robbies Rock 50/1
3. Liam Swagger 12/1
4. Hot Fuss 17/2
5. Slurricane 33/1
Puturhandstogether wins the Fred Winter for Joseph O'Brien.
They are off in the Fred Winter.
Willie Mullins on State Man falling at the last: "He was just too long and caught the top of it. The same as Annie Power, I think. You don't think two Champion Hurdle (winners) are going to fall in a Champion Hurdle on the same day, you know, it's extraordinary stuff. But wonderful for Jeremy Scott and Golden Ace. It's fantastic to have a winner like that when all that's happened. They came, they punched, they tried and they're there to be jumped. We can't say anything, just delighted both horses and riders are safe. That's the important thing."
The Fred Winter, with 22 running, is up next at 4:40pm.
Ruby Walsh on Paul Townend and State Man falling at the last: "That'll live with him forever, trust me."
Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Jeremy Scott: "I think you've got to thump because so I know this isn't a dream."
Champion Hurdle result
1. Golden Ace 25/1
2. Burdett Road 66/1
3. Winter Fog 150/1
Winning jockey Lorcan Williams: "You dream of these moments as a kid." He hopes the fallers are all ok. Is is the best day of your life, he's asked. "By far." It's the first Grade 1 win of his career.
Golden Ace wins the Champion Hurdle. That race was pure carnage.
State Man, leading well, falls at the last!
Constitution Hill has fallen!!
We very nearly lost Burdett Road early on there but Sam Twiston-Davies manages to stay onboard.
They are off in the Champion Hurdle!
Brighterdaysahead owner Michael O'Leary says his horse was heading for the Mares' Hurdle but her performance at Leopardstown in December convinced him to go for the Champion Hurdle.
The Mares' Hurdle result
1. Lossiemouth 4/5f
2. Jade De Grugy 5-1
3. Take No Chances 22-1
The Champion Hurdle - featuring favourite Constitution Hill along with Brighterdaysahead and State Man - is up next at 4pm.
"I worked her against State Man the other day and it wasn't a Champion Hurdle piece of work," Willie Mullins says about switching Lossiemouth from today's big race to the Mares' Hurdle. "He worked very well in cheek pieces the other day. Don't tell anyone," Mullins adds with a smile about State Man, the defending champion hurdler.
Lossiemouth cruises to victory in the Mares' Hurdle. Too good for the rest. It's a second win of the day for Paul Townend and Willie Mullins and Lossiemouth's second victory in the race.
Jango Baie's win in the Arkle was a poignant one for owner Tony Barney. "I bought the horse on the day my son was killed, his name was James Barney, the horse is Jango Baie, same initials. My son is looking down on me."
Barry Connell was a proud man having watched William Munny run a huge race to be second in the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Two years ago the Connell-trained Marine Nationale famously won the Festival opener when ridden by O'Sullivan, who tragically died aged 24 last month following injuries suffered in a fall at Thurles.
Several of O'Sullivan's family and friends were on course to witness William Munny force odds-on favourite Kopek Des Bordes to pull out all the stops before eventually going down by a length and three-quarters.
"It is very poignant with the connection with Michael. He started his career in our yard as a 7lb-claiming amateur and ended the season winning the Supreme and being leading rider after the Tuesday at the Festival," said Connell.
"I'd only had my licence a couple of years and we went on a magical journey together. It's very emotional today for obvious reasons - and will be again tomorrow with Marine Nationale in the Queen Mother.
"I've been fortunate enough to spend a good bit of time with his family and friends over the last while and the family are all here, his girlfriend is here. I think they appreciate the support they have got from the whole racing community in Ireland and in England, it's a great consolation for them."
The Mares' Hurdle, in which Willie Mullins' Lossiemouth - redirected from the Champion Hurdle - goes as 8/11 favourite, is up next at 3:20pm.
The Ultima Handicap result
1. Myretown 13/2f
2. The Changing Man 7/1
3. Malina Girl 14/1
4. Happygolucky 28/1
It's jockey Patrick Wadge's first Cheltenham Festival winner.
Myretown wins the Ultima for Lucinda Russell. The Changing Man finishes second and Malina Girl in third.
It's taking a while to get the Ultima going. They finally get underway.
The Ultima Handicap is up next at 2:40pm. 24 run, the biggest field of the day. The Changing Man and Myretown are 13/2 joint favourites.
The result of the Arkle
1. Jango Baie 5/1
2. Only By Night 25/1
3. Majborough 1/2f
After seeing Majborough hit the last, Nico De Boinville thought he "might be in with a squeak" on Jango Baie. He certainly was. That's Nicky Henderson's first Cheltenham Festival winner in two years. "He's never been as fast as he came up the hill. That's as fast as he's ever been in his life," Henderson tells ITV.
They're off in the Arkle!
Willie Mullins' Majborough, with Mark Walsh riding, is the short-priced favourite (4/9) for the Arkle. However, it is 19 years since a five-year-old won the race.
Willie Mullins on Kopek Des Bordes winning the Supreme: "It's wonderful, we sent a good team to try and win it. The team of horses that I had there, you know, any year I would say they're good enough to try and maybe go close in that race and it was spread out like brown cows behind the first two."
Up next at 2pm is the Arkle.
1. Kopek Des Bordes 4/6f
2. William Munny 8/1
3. Romeo Coolio 9/2
Winning jockey Paul Townend in tears as he remembers fellow Corkman Michael O'Sullivan. Jockeys wore red and white armbands, the Cork colours, in honour of the recently deceased jockey. The race was also named after Michael O'Sullivan.
"It's a dream come through and the dream isn't finished yet," Kopek Des Bordes owner Charlie McCarthy tells ITV.
Kopek Des Bordes wins the Supreme! A great day for the McCarthy family and Cork.
They are off in the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle! And there's the Cheltenham roar.
An emotional Kopek Des Bordes owner Charlie McCarthy just told ITV about his recent battle with cancer. You can read our interview with Charlie here.
We're 20 minutes from the off of the first, the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Lovely tribute to Michael O’Sullivan just under an hour before the opening race of the festival that is named in his honour. His fellow jockeys and a huge crowd paid their respects in and around the parade ring and a rerun of his 2023 win here on Marine Nationale was played on the big screen to huge applause.
A tribute to jockey Michael O'Sullivan before the off of day 1 at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. Pic: Brendan O'Brien.
In the Champion Hurdle (4pm), Tommy Lyons says Gordon Elliot's Brighterdaysahead will have to produce something special to beat favourite Constitution Hill.
"There are plenty of reasons why the layers will be looking to take on the Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old, not least because he has had wind surgery and because he was off the track for an entire year between Christmas Hurdles at Kempton," writes Tommy.
"However, the plain fact is that the Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old is yet to find one good enough to get the better of him, and that says plenty about him."
Nicky Henderson's prospects have taken a hit with news that Palladium is out of Friday's Triumph Hurdle.
"We have had quite a blow this morning when it appears that Palladium had got cast overnight and is quite sore this morning and we really can’t see how he can be fit to run in the JCB Triumph Hurdle," Henderson posted on social media.
"This is dreadful news and an unfair shock for the Bamford family as we seriously thought we had an outstanding chance on Friday.
"We are confident he will soon be able to resume training but he will require a few easy days. He would be back in time for Aintree but I think in all probability he will now return to his flat career. He is a very good looking and talented young horse with a great temperament and he has a really bright future under both codes."
racing editor Darren Norris says Willie Mullins' Kopek Des Bordes can get punters off to the perfect start in the Supreme.
"His temperament is the one niggling concern and connections will hope the application of a hood will stop Kopek Des Bordes from boiling over pre-race," writes Darren. "Should that aid work the oracle, he’ll be a mightily tough nut to crack."
The opening race of the festival, the Supreme Novices Hurdle, goes off at 1:20pm. It has been renamed in honour of Michael O'Sullivan, the Cork jockey who tragically died last month following a fall at Thurles. Michael rode Marine Nationale to victory in the race two years ago.
"The roar that will greet the runners as they creep towards the starting tape in today's Festival opener will feel a bit different from the one in other years because this year's Supreme has been named in honour of Michael O’Sullivan," writes Ruby Walsh in his Tuesday column.
"The emotion, love and pride for a wonderful young man will roll off the greatest grandstand in the sport and pour out towards Cleeve Hill as the runners hurtle to the first hurdle. It will be fast, it will be frantic, and the race will create a story just like the 27 that will follow it between lunchtime today and teatime on Friday."
Watch racing correspondent Tommy Lyons and Ruby preview today's action. Ruby has walked the track and tells us what it's like out there. They also make their selections for the Champion Hurdle, the big race of the day.
