The Times
11.03.2026
The first sight was the sweetest. At 8.30 yesterday morning Lossiemouth was coming back after her morning canter. The sun shone, her grey coat gleamed, her feet danced, her rider Niamh Roche beamed. She was every inch a racehorse at the ready. Eight hours later 27 year old Niamh’s smile almost split her face as she led Lossiemouth to the washdown. It was in between that gave us history.
Lossiemouth didn’t just win this Champion Hurdle, she aced it. Stalking the other Irish mare Brighterdaysahead until the second last, then driving three lengths clear to the final hurdle and adding another three lengths advantage on the run in with Brighterdaysahead holding of The New Lion with Alexei and last year’s winner Golden Ace fourth and fifth. Lossiemouth has won 14 of her 18 races, been second in all others bar the once when she came down when leading in the 2023 Irish Champion Hurdle. She has come four times to the Festival and won every one. She may not be the best ever Champion but she is a shining star.
Paul Townend has now won 12 races on Lossiemouth and there was a touching sense of gratitude as he talked from the saddle with the crowd’s cheers raining down. “She never turned up the last day,” (a disappointing defeat by Brighterdaysahead) but she was much happier today, both on the way she went down and how she took on the first
We didn’t go fast but she travelled much sweeter. She tries so hard that you know whether she’s going or not. It’s easy to have belief in something that has as much ability as she does. She turns up, does the business, and has been very good to me – she’s put me on the board again.”
The sense of purpose had been very obvious beforehand. There was no bubbling playfulness as Lossiemouth strode round the paddock. She had brown woollen cheekpieces fitted to add to her focus. Tall but light and lean, she was now very much a runner with its game face on.
When a horse becomes public property, and four consecutive wins at the Cheltenham Festival, (The Triumph Hurdle and two Mares Hurdles before this Champion Hurdle), is about as public as they get, we all have a tendency to anthropomorphise especially with mares and fillies. But it’s important to be practical and while owner Rich Ricci waxed lyrical about Lossiemouth’s love of Cheltenham and of his own for the way racing had accepted his somewhat brash persona, he also revealed that he, trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Townend were all set on another tilt at The Mares Hurdle until a gallop with the cheek pieces suggested that Lossiemouth was an athlete back at the peak.
British hopes that Mullins and other Irish trainers might be otherwise were raised when the best they could do in the first was El Cairo’s distant fifth behind Old Park Star, Sober Glory and Mydaddypaddy in the opening Supreme Novices Hurdle. It was in every way a stirring start to the meeting with Sober Glory leading all the way until flummoxing the last hurdle and understandably weakening on the run in as Old Park Star and Mydaddypaddy closed up. It was an uplifting start for Nicky Henderson who spoke of Old Park Star having “an enormous future” with the relief of a man who had earlier seen Constitution Hill make a parade as to what has now to be seen as his brilliant past.
Henderson bookended the day when Holloway Queen won the closing National Hunt Challenge Cup under James Bowen and so ending the Bowen family’s 30 year wait for a Festival winner. With Jonjo O’Neill training Jonny Who to win the Trustmarque Uitima, and Dan Skelton producing Madara to take the Sun Racing Plate, it meant that Britain led Ireland four winners to three at the end of play.
There is of course a lot to play for and the strength of Ireland’s, and in particular of Willie Mullins hand, was very evident when the mare Kargese, apparently the stable’s second string, was too fast, and too accurate over her fences for the Mullins number one Kopek Des Bordes and Henderson’s hitherto unbeaten Kopek Des Bordes in the Arkle. Despite winning the County Hurdle last year and running a great race in heavy ground when second in the Irish Arkle this February, she was allowed to start at 7-1. Mullins nephew Danny loves to be on the second string. He attacked from the start, got Lulamba in trouble at the second last, stole two lengths off the others at the turn, and then had Kopek Des Bordes clumsy at the final fence. “These days are very special,” said Danny Mullins, “and I hope I can have many more.”
That sentiment is clearly shared by JP McManus who celebrated his 75th birthday watching his Saratoga make it 85 wins in the famous green and gold hooped silks at the Festival, which became 86 with ,Johnny Who. With over two hundred horses spread across our two Islands, and 10 individual runners yesterday JP is by far the greatest benefactor jump racing has ever had. You want to accuse him of excess but it becomes impossible when he takes your arm, gives that soft smile and says, “but I love the game, every win is special”
Yes this opener at Cheltenham had been a day of smiles. But as night falls the mind goes back to the sun coming up bright and clear above Cleeve Hill. The best of all smiles had that been that mare in the morning.
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