A Gold chance awaits as Rachael Blackmore takes over the Cheltenham Festival

Rachael Blackmore is taking over the game. The most obvious thread running through this Cheltenham Festival has been success in the best races for the 31-year-old from County Tipperary who, riding Allaho for the first time, showed total faith in him, sent him forwards at what seemed an ambitious pace and left their rivals in the Ryanair chasing shadows.

The routine is this: she gets on a fancied horse, gives it a beautifully judged ride and comes beaming up the hill in front, her smile fading only slightly when Matt Chapman heaves into view with his microphone.

Meanwhile those hard-to-impress former champs, McCoy and Walsh – racing's answer to Statler and Waldorf – throw down one bouquet of praise after another for the woman who is now long odds-on to end the week as top jockey. How much better can it get?