Mild Illusion does the trick again for Ten To Follow's keenest fan Fellows-Smith

There is a new, but familiar name at the top of the Tote Ten To Follow leaderboard after a tumultuous Cheltenham Festival in which the most successful squads added around 300 points to their totals.

The new top team out of 37,854 entrants is Mild Illusion, a name you may recall as a smart two-year-old filly in 2019, when she was only once out of the first three in eight races, culminating with victory in the Listed Bosra Sham Stakes at Newmarket. Trainer Jonny Portman had bought her for just 1,000 guineas but her racecourse exploits earned her another visit to the sales ring where she attracted rather more attention and a 160,000gns price tag.

Dick Fellows-Smith (centre, blue shirt) with members of the Old Stoics Racing Club, trainer Jonny Portman (right) and jockey Josephine Gordon after Mild Illusion's victory in the Bosra Sham Stakes at Newmarket

Now Dick Fellows-Smith, a member of the Old Stoic Racing Club who raced Mild Illusion, has conjured a similarly spectacular feat with the Ten To Follow team named in the filly's honour as he charged to the front of the race for the £104,832 first prize thanks to landing six of the festival bonus races, including the Gold Cup with Minella Indo who delivered a 62.60-point haul.

It was a timely boost for Fellows-Smith, as he is undergoing treatment for cancer, but he rode the Gold Cup winner home from his sofa in Crystal Palace, South London, every bit as vigorously as Jack Kennedy did at Cheltenham.

Minella Indo: the Gold Cup winner was the top Ten To Follow points scorer of the weekCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The Ten To Follow has long been a passion for Fellows-Smith, a loyal Racing Post reader who in the newspaper's early days won a competition first prize of a trip for two with a group of jump jockeys to the Caribbean in which he beat Peter Scudamore in a hard-fought tennis match. The record-setting multiple champion jockey may have forgotten the episode but Fellows-Smith has been exulting in the victory ever since.

He has been taking part in the Ten To Follow every year since the original version began in the early 1990s and last season he finished in 14th position, his best ever placing, and picked up £1,271 thanks to the Tote's allocation of prize-money all the way to 100th place.

Generously, he reinvested a sizable portion of his winnings in this season's entry and he meticulously documents the fortunes not just of his own entries but of those rivals vying for the top places.

His Mild Illusion team, with 763.70 points, has a handsome 18-point lead over the pursuing pack led by Ballymartle Bullets on 745.38, but there are barely ten points covering the next six outfits and bonus races at Fairyhouse, Aintree, Ayr and Sandown still to come.

As last week showed, with over 1,000 points won, a lot can change in the Ten To Follow over a few days, especially when there are bonus points to be won.

At Cheltenham, only the bonus points from Belfast Banter’s County Hurdle success went begging as he was not included in the game. Shishkin kicked things off in the big-scoring races with netting 52.3 points in the Arkle for 62% of stables, including 2,700 who brought him in during the transfer window.

Honeysuckle added 52.9 points to her tally in the Champion Hurdle. The game's top scorer is in just under 20,000 stables (52.5%) and was added to around 1,000 in the transfer window, while 52 stables, quite bizarrely, transferred her out. Put The Kettle On took the Champion Chase, scoring 60.5 points for 12% of teams and Allaho added 55.6 points to 17% of stables.

Honeysuckle: the Champion Hurdle winner was transferred in by 1,000 teams but, strangely, transferred out by 52Credit: Edward Whitaker

Monkfish survived a few hair-raising moments en route to victory in the Brown Advisory. He was the most popular horse brought in during the transfer window, being added to nearly 8,000 stables. When the window shut, he represented 37% of teams. Flooring Porter, brought in by 616 stables, landed the Stayers’ Hurdle for 60 points.

Other winners:

• Appreciate It - Supreme Novices’ - 27.52 points - 3,186 stables
• Vintage Clouds - Ultima - 59.1 points - 42 stables
• Black Tears - Mares’ Hurdle - 36.4 points - 73 stables
• Galvin - National Hunt Chase - 25.9 points - 965 stables
• Bob Olinger - Ballymore Novices’ - 28.8 points - 452 stables
• Tiger Roll - Cross Country Chase - 18.3 points - 495 stables
• Sky Pirate - Grand Annual - 29.8 points - 19 stables
• Sir Gerhard - Champion Bumper - 29.8 points - 578 stables
• Chantry House - Marsh Chase - 39.3 points - 2,129 stables
• The Shunter - Paddy Power Plate - 19.6 points - 124 stables
• Quilixios - Triumph Hurdle - 28.8 points - 429 stables
• Colreevy - Mares’ Chase - 29 points - 100 stables

The opportunity to switch two horses into stables was taken by most players and, while some made the move worthwhile, others suffered a nightmare. The second most popular horse after Monkfish in the transfer window was Chacun Pour Soi, with the beaten Champion Chase favourite brought in by more than 3,600 stables.

Envoi Allen was highly popular before the week kicked off, but 343 more chose to bring him into their teams prior to his Marsh Chase mishap. There were also 17 stables who, for whatever reason, opted to take the Cheveley Park star out of their teams.

A total of 492 stables missed out on the top score of the week by taking Gold Cup winner Minella Indo out of their squads, while the numbers with runner-up A Plus Tard increased by 1,300.

And spare a thought for those who added late absentees Thyme Hill (457 stables) and Energumene (478) during the transfer window – especially the 12 who brought in both.

The Ten To Follow mini game was won by Fitzy/West Young Boys Fliers who picked out all the bonus winners except Put The Kettle On. There were also points garnered from Bob Olinger’s win and Chacun Pour Soi’s second place. The winning stable picks up just over £10,000 for a £5 entry fee.

LEADING HORSES
1 Honeysuckle 132.94 points
2 Monkfish 119.08
3 Shishkin 105.60
4 Appreciate It 95.46
5 Colreevy 91.82
6 Minella Indo 83.30
7 Put The Kettle On 82.60
8 Allaho 78.22
9 Chacun Pour Soi 76.74
10 Frodon 74.50

LEADING TEAMS
1 Mild Illusion 763.70 points
2 Ballymartle Bullets 745.38
3 Grizz 743.82
4 Grizz 738.84
5 Melrose Place two 737.96
6 Donttellthemissus 737.26
7 Hurricane Heights 23 736.44
8 Ian/paul champs3 734.18
9 West Fitzy young boys syndicate 730.72
10 tipperwood 726.92

LEADING STABLE - MILD ILLUSION
Honeysuckle 132.94
Monkfish 119.08
Minella Indo 83.30
Put The Kettle On 82.60
Chacun Pour Soi 76.74
Allaho 55.60
Shishkin 52.30
Sharjah 47.80
Abacadabras 45.22
Envoi Allen 43.42

Read more:

Deadline day to enter Cheltenham Festival mini game and transfer in new talent

Winners are scarce as transfer window and Cheltenham mini game become the focus

Goshen delivers at last as faithful followers join Moores in sigh of relief

Top points scorer Honeysuckle has major effect on pursuit of Ten To Follow prize

Shishkin delivers £10,000 monthly Ten To Follow prize for Fantastico Lobos

First Flow sweeps up the charts as he becomes season's second-highest scorer

Envoi Allen rewards his legion of fans and tips the balance on leaderboard

Master Tommytucker sends Rubbish Mario Sisters flying to the top of the table

Combination of Frodon and A Plus Tard sweeps smart team to top of leaderboard

Paisley Park piles up points in Long Walk to reward faith of his followers

Henderson helps out Ten To Follow entrants with two well-supported winners

Abacadabras followers off to a flying start in pursuit of £190,000 Tote pot

Bristol De Mai's brilliance jolts the hopes of expectant Ten To Follow teams

Envoi Allen proves a crowd-pleaser but Cloth Cap success not one for the masses

Tingle Creek victory puts a smile on faces of Politologue supporters

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