Mullins is top dog again - but his amazing winning streak came to an end

It was a throwback festival in some ways, with Sire Du Berlais and Envoi Allen scoring again and Paul Nicholls training winners, all things that we hadn't seen at Cheltenham in March since 2020. Here's something else that hadn't happened since then: Willie Mullins had to endure an entire day without visiting the winner's enclosure.

It wasn't widely remarked upon when Mullins had a blank day on Thursday, probably because it may have seemed churlish to do so when he'd had four winners over the first two days and was due to saddle the hot favourite for the Gold Cup on Friday. But that blank ended a run of success that stretched back to the second day of the pre-Covid festival in 2020.

To jog your memory a little, the last day when Mullins was held at bay was the one that started with Shishkin running down Abacadabras in the Supreme. Mullins' Sharjah was second to Epatante in the Champion Hurdle and would probably have won but for the 7lb mares' allowance.