'I didn't know the result, it could have gone either way' - Champleve and Hill Society in one of Cheltenham's closest finishes
To whet the appetite for Cheltenham, we’re counting down the greatest duels in festival history
Greatest Festival Duels - No. 13
Champleve v Hill Society, 1998 Arkle
Few finishes have been as tight as when Champleve and Hill Society flashed past the post together in the 1998 Arkle. Certainly no Cheltenham Festival photo has been deliberated over for longer.
Champleve was partnered by Tony McCoy while Richard Dunwoody was aboard Hill Society, meaning two of the greatest jump jockeys of all time were going head to head. That was just one of a number of intriguing subplots to the race – Champleve's owner David Johnson held a 25-1 ante-post voucher on his horse and Hill Society's trainer Noel Meade was desperate for his first win at the festival.
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Published on inGreatest Festival Duels
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- Friends, rivals and all-time greats - Denman and Kauto Star give us one of the sport's most iconic moments
- How Monksfield conquered Sea Pigeon in an epic - undeterred by the most bizarre pre-race routine imaginable
- Priests and farmers, lords and layabouts - all came together to herald the greatest there's ever been
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- The sound from the ring may have been the trembling of the layers, whose liabilities on the two Irish 'good things' would have been colossal