Ireland Dominates Cheltenham Festival Day One, Pressuring Prestbury Cup Rivals

Willie Mullins arrived at Prestbury Park with Lossiemouth and a plan involving a pair of cheekpieces fitted ten days earlier. By the time the 4:17pm Champion Hurdle was done, those cheekpieces had helped turn a mare who had struggled at the Dublin Racing Festival into the undisputed queen of Cheltenham.

Lossiemouth, sent off the 7-5 favourite, swept clear of her rivals up the Cheltenham hill under Paul Townend to win the Unibet Champion Hurdle by two and a quarter lengths, cementing a record of four wins from four starts at the Festival. The victory followed two Mares' Hurdle titles in 2024 and 2025 and a 2023 Triumph Hurdle success, making her the most decorated active mare in Festival history.

Mullins was unambiguous about what the equipment change meant. "She's a star mare," he told ITV. "To come back four years in a row, let alone win, that is incredible. When I put her cheek pieces on her I thought, wow, that's the old Lossiemouth." Owner Rich Ricci, who watched the victory from the stands, pointed directly at his trainer: "All credit goes to Willie. Ten days ago, he said he wanted to try her with cheek pieces, and it worked." Townend, typically understated, reduced the whole performance to a single sentence: "It's easy when they have as much ability as she does. She turns up and she does her business."

That win was the centrepiece of a dominant Irish day in the Prestbury Cup battle against Britain, but the Mullins stable had already made its presence felt two hours earlier. Kargese, sent off at 7-1 with all pre-race attention on stablemate Kopek Des Bordes and Nicky Henderson's Lulamba, delivered a front-running masterclass in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase under Danny Mullins. Both market favourites made costly errors at the penultimate and final fences, gifting Kargese a clear run to the line. Owner Kenny Alexander put her straightforwardly in context on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: "She is a proper, proper horse. She got the job done and she won fair and square. She is top-notch, definitely second best now by a country mile," adding only Honeysuckle ahead of her in his personal rankings.

Danny Mullins, nephew to Willie, described his uncle simply as "a master" and acknowledged how rare these occasions are. "To get days like these, they are not a given," he told ITV. "I am lucky that I have ridden Cheltenham winners and I hope I have more."

The opening race had gone the other way. Nicky Henderson's Old Park Star, the 15-8 ante-post favourite, justified his market position in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle under Nico de Boinville, staying up the hill to pass Sober Glory, while Mighty Park tracked the pace for Ireland but could not land the blow. Henderson, who had earlier received a rousing Cheltenham ovation when Constitution Hill was paraded before racing, took that first race of the week. It represented one of the few bright spots for British trainers on the day.

Elsewhere, AJ O'Neill recorded his first Festival winner since joining his father on the licence at Jackdaws Castle. "That was fantastic," O'Neill said. "He's threatened to land a big one on a couple of occasions. He obviously went close in the Kim Muir last year and it's great to come back and go one better. When I saw Jagwar coming I was just hoping we could keep our nose in front and luckily we were able to do that."

The day was also marked by a grim footnote: 100-1 outsider Hansard died after sustaining an injury while running on the flat towards the end of a race, rather than in a jumping fall.

With Ireland firmly ahead in the Prestbury Cup standings after Day One, the British contingent of Gordon Elliott, Henry de Bromhead, and their rivals will need a significant response over the remaining three days at Prestbury Park to reclaim the trophy.