Ten To Follow 25.03.21

The 2021 Cheltenham Festival has come to an end and it was a story of Irish dominance and Rachael Blackmore's brilliance. This Ten To Follow update takes you through all the point scoring winners from the week, starting with Tuesday's action: 

Tuesday got favourite backers off to a great start as Appreciate It and Shishkin both put in impressive performances to win their races by a combined 36 lengths! In the Champion Hurdle Honeysuckle proved she was the class act of the field, maintaining her unbeaten record to win her toughest race yet by a comfortable six and a half lengths. The final point scoring winner of day 1 was Galvin who kept on well to get home in front in the National Hunt Challenge Cup. 

The first point scoring winner on Wednesday came courtesy of Monkfish. He provided his supporters with a heart stopping moment as he made a fairly significant mistake at the last, but he managed to pick up again to score by six and a half lengths from Fiddlerontheroof. In the Queen Mother Champion Chase Chacun Pour Soi was looking to land another win for the Monkfish connections, however it was Put The Kettle On who got home in front putting in a game performance under Adain Coleman to hold off a fast finishing Nube Negra.

The Cross Country chase came next, not typically a point scoring race for players in the competition, but this year it provided us with an amazing Festival moment as Tiger Roll bounded around the course to beat the well-fancied Easysland by an easy 18 lengths. The Cross Country is only a class 2 race, so no points were scored for the level of the race, however, 20 bonus points have been awarded as it is still a Cheltenham Festival race. In future TTF competitions we include an additional line in the rules to clear up the scoring in situations like this.      

The final winner of day 2 was Sir Gerhard in the Champion Bumper, well done to Jeff Randall who was the only player to pick the winning horse and score 55 points. 

Thursday started with a big upset in the Marsh Novices' Chase when the unbeaten, 4/9 favourite, Envoi Allen came down at the fourth fence. This left the way clear for the others and it was Chantry House who struck, providing team GB with a much needed winner. The Ryanair Chase was filled with popular names from the jumping world and it was Allaho who dominated the field under yet another impressive ride from Rachael Blackmore. 

The final day of The Festival proved a tricky one for Ten To Follow players, and the only point scoring winner of the day came in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Henry De Bromhead was looking to win another championship race and many expect A Plus Tard to be his best hope. However it was Minella Indo who landed the spoils, staying on well up the Cheltenham hill to beat his stable companion by one and a half lengths. 

With so many point scoring races The Festival always changes things up on the leader board. Our new leader is Tony Wells who occupies the top 2 spots! Michael Moysey and Trevor Shaw aren't far behind. The full standings can be viewed here.