'She didn't go for the safe option' - Ruby Walsh lauds Rachael Blackmore ride

Honeysuckle may have been odds-on, the reigning Champion Hurdle winner and 14 from 14 – but the Cheltenham Festival's leading rider Ruby Walsh is convinced win number 15 owed itself to a tactical decision Rachael Blackmore made coming down the hill.

Walsh, the most decorated rider in Cheltenham history who was the meeting's leading rider on 11 occasions, now works as an analyst for broadcaster ITV Racing and gave Blackmore's ride "ten out of ten".

Breaking down exactly what Blackmore did that made all the difference, Walsh explained: "They didn't go that hard [in the Champion Hurdle], they were almost three seconds slower through the first five furlongs than the Supreme.

Watch the replay of the Unibet Champion Hurdle

"But Rachael got a good position at the top of the hill and it is what she did next, it was riding to win. She tucked in behind Appreciate It, Not So Sleepy and Zanahiyr, there's nothing safe there.

"She didn't go outside for the safe option, she spots the gap and she doesn't want to take it as it's so far from home, but she knows it will be there again so she sits in besides Epatante towards the third last hurdle and commits Honeysuckle to it because she knows she's going to have to take the gap on landing.

Rachael Blackmore: Honeysuckle's trusty partnerCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"She spots a stride, Honeysuckle jumps it really well and she slips by Not So Sleepy and into the gap before Zanahiyr can close it under Jack Kennedy. Now she's between Paul Townend on Appreciate It and Jack Kennedy on Zanahiyr but she still doesn't commit Honeysuckle.

"She waits until they get down to the second last before she really asks her to go. We've always seen Honeysuckle respond when Rachael Blackmore asks her and she does off the home turn. She sends her off the bend and with her stamina she's not going to get beaten. The last 50 yards she's looking for the line but she can hear the crowds and it's the realisation that all the sleepless nights and pressure were worth it."

De Bromhead 'blown away' as Honeysuckle storms to second Champion Hurdle

Walsh praised Blackmore for surprising her rivals with a change in tactics. He added: "I'd imagine having watched Honeysuckle's previous runs Jack Kennedy was expecting Honeysuckle would be coming on his outside, it was Rachael who was brave to go down the inside and go for those gaps. Rachael rode it properly, she got into the gap off the back of the third last hurdle and that was the time to take it."

How did Honeysuckle's time compare with Constitution Hill?

As Walsh touched on, however, they went off considerably quicker in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle. Often that can result in a pace collapse, as it did last year when Appreciate It, the Supreme winner, was, in comparison, considerably faster than the Champion Hurdle-winner Honeysuckle at the top of the hill, but eventually finished in a time 1.69 seconds slower.

Honeysuckle: won her second Champion HurdleCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

But Constitution Hill ran in a race that was almost three seconds up after five furlongs and he all but doubled that margin to the line, winning in a course record and beating the Unibet Champion Hurdle time by 5.78 seconds.

It is a performance that marks the Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old as an incredibly special prospect and raises the delicious prospect of a heavyweight clash between Constitution Hill and Honeysuckle in next year's race – or perhaps even at this year's Punchestown festival?

Both produced breathtaking performances over the same course just two hours apart. Constitution Hill utterly decimated what looked a well above average Supreme field, winning by 22 lengths. Honeysuckle won a second Champion Hurdle and confirmed herself the division's undisputed number one.

Appreciate It produced a similar display in last year's Supreme and yet was no match for Honeysuckle, who made it 15 wins from 15 in glorious fashion. If/when the two ever meet the sectional comparison will be mentioned in force, but all it shows is the pace difference between the two races and the different challenge Honeysuckle faced. Her field did not go quick enough for her to keep up, but it was not enough to stop her winning.

Read more from the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival:

De Bromhead 'blown away' as Honeysuckle storms to second Champion Hurdle

Constitution Hill smashes course record with 'remarkable' Supreme success

'I've never seen anything like it' – McCoy praise as Edwardstone averts disaster

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