'It was simply astonishing' - who earned our Cheltenham performance of the week?

The Racing Post's awards will honour the best (and sometimes worst) performances and raise talking points from the last seven days of racing. This week's edition is a Cheltenham Festival special and the winners are . . .

Performance of the week

A Plus Tard

Some exceptionally strong competition here, as you would expect. Constitution Hill was amazing in the Supreme, Honeysuckle dazzled us once more in the Champion Hurdle, Allaho routed his rivals in the Ryanair and even in that luckless defeat Galopin Des Champs was phenomenal.

But the Gold Cup is the pinnacle of the week and for A Plus Tard to produce a performance like that in the biggest race of the year was astonishing.

A Plus Tard simply blew his rivals away and sprinted up the hill in a manner more akin to a Champion Hurdle or Champion Chase than a Gold Cup. The 15-length winning margin - the biggest since Master Oats won by the same distance in 1995 - says it all.

Rachael Blackmore delivers sublime Cheltenham Gold Cup ride on A Plus Tard

Ride of the week

Danny Mullins on Flooring Porter

If Danny Mullins' fellow riders in the Stayers' Hurdle could have the race back perhaps they would do something different, rather than allow Flooring Porter the uncontested lead he craves, but Mullins still judged every yard and fraction to absolute perfection as he delivered back-to-back Stayers' Hurdles.

Danny Mullins celebrates after winning the Stayers' Hurdle on Flooring PorterCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

He had his rivals on strings flowing down the hill and had plenty saved in the locker for the final dash after the last hurdle.

Party time after Flooring Porter sends black and white army into ecstasy

Race of the week

Glenfarclas Chase

There can't be many years that the Cross Country Chase has produced the most exhilarating finish of the week, but Delta Work's defeat of retiring legend Tiger Roll was a fantastic piece of sporting theatre, even if the result didn't go the way many craved.

It looked likely for a long way that Tiger Roll would provide the perfect denouement to his career, but he and Davy Russell couldn't shake off stablemate Delta Work and Jack Kennedy, whose sterling efforts were met with some boos.

Drama and boos as Tiger Roll denied dream end to career by stablemate Delta Work

Disappointment of the week

Champion Chase

The Champion Chase had been built up to such an huge degree that it was always going to be tough to live up to the hype, but for the race to turn into as damp a squib as it did was enormously disappointing.

Shishkin's below-par performance on the soft - and getting muddier - ground and Chacun Pour Soi's unseat left few dangers to Energumene, who nonetheless put the race to bed in the manner of a true champion.

Energumene powers to Champion Chase glory after favourite Shishkin is pulled up

Shock of the week

Galopin Des Champs

He had cleared it, hadn't he? Even looking back now it seems hard to believe that Galopin Des Champs came a cropper at the last in the Turners after clearing the fence but slipping on landing.

Galopin Des Champs: fell at the last when well clear in the TurnersCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

His relentless performance did not get the reward it deserved and he became the latest in a growing line of Willie Mullins-trained good things to capitulate at the last.

Agony for Galopin Des Champs as final-fence exit hands Bob Olinger 999-1 victory

Trainer of the week

Willie Mullins and Venetia Williams

It seemed unfair to leave either out, so the award is shared.

Mullins, crowned the festival's leading trainer for the ninth time, had the numbers advantage but his ten winners was still an impressive achievement, and could have been greater still were it not for the aforementioned Galopin Des Champs and Gaelic Warrior's near misses.

Williams can't match Mullins for volume, but her string performed superbly and form figures for the week of F1623431552 amount to a brilliant performance.

A sublime effort from L'Homme Presse in the Brown Advisory was the highlight, along with a 40-1 and 66-1 first and third in the Kim Muir.

Mullins finishes top trainer with record ten winners after dominant final day

Catch our new in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Grand National-winning jockey Leighton Aspell, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, weekly awards and more, it is not to be missed.