No surprises for guessing the leading
trainer and leading jockey at the Festival in 2016; Willie Mullins
and Ruby Walsh once again carried all before them, as they’d done
for the last three years running, with seven winners apiece during
the four days. Mullins’ haul also helped Irish trainers to a final
tally of 14 winners, equalling the record achieved three years
earlier.
The Stan James Champion Hurdle went the
way of Annie Power, but Sprinter Sacre took the Queen Mother Champion
Chase, Ballyandy the Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Thistlecrack the
Ryanair World Hurdle for the home team before Don Cossack headed a
1-2-3 for Irish-trained horses in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup. The
9-year-old, who’d won his last six completed starts since finishing
third in the Ryanair Chase the previous year, was pushed out to beat
the Mullins-trained pair Djakadam and Don Poli by 4½ lengths and 10
lengths.