Summary

  • Lord Windermere Gold Cup win stands after stewards' enquiry

  • Lord Windermere had pipped On His Own in photo-finish

  • The Giant Bolster finishes third in feature race

  • Defending champion Bobs Worth started as favourite

  • Jockey Ruby Walsh breaks arm in fall in opening race

  • Going: Good, Good to Soft in places

Live Reporting

Marc Higginson

  1. Racecard

    The Gold Cup is today's feature race at 15:20, but there's plenty more action to get excited about. Here's a full racecard:

    Friday, 14 March - Gold Cup Day (New Course)

    13:30: JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 1f

    14:05: Vincent O'Brien County Handicap Hurdle 2m 1f

    14:40: Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle 3m

    15:20: Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup 3m 2½f

    16:00: CGA Foxhunter Chase 3m 2½f

    16:40: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle 2m 4½f

    17:15: Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase 2m ½f

  2. CELEB SPOT!

    Pop star Lily Allen is the first of our 'Celeb Spots' today. I'm sure we'll have plenty throughout the afternoon.

    Lily AllenPA

  3. Frank Keogh
    BBC Sport at Cheltenham

    "Iconic Gold Cup commentaries from the legendary BBC broadcaster Sir Peter O'Sullevan are being played on the big TV screens around the buzzing racecourse as punters enjoy glorious spring sunshine.

    "Tips are being shared and some sleeves bared as a capacity crowd of 67,500 get revved up for a captivating day.

    "Arkle, Dawn Run, Desert Orchid - the words, images and atmosphere send a shiver down the spine. This is the holy grail of jump racing - the top steeplechasers competing over 22 fences on a rollercoaster test of more than three-and-a-quarter miles.

    "Sir Peter, now aged 96, misses the Festival this year but will be following from home, and is reported to be in good form. Word is he drove himself from London to Paris last October for flat racing's showpiece Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe."

  4. Yep, we're just hours away from the biggest race of what has been another magnificent Cheltenham Festival. The Gold Cup is glistening in the hazy early-afternoon sunshine and 13 of the best chasers around have their eyes on the biggest prize.

  5. Gold Cup glory also awaits Bobs Worth this afternoon. Can the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding, pictured below, do what modern-day greats like Denman and Kauto Star could not, and defend one of the most prestigious racing trophies in the world 12 months later? Or, like Arkle, will another horse race from the shadows and begin to write their own chapter in Cheltenham history? King George winner Silviniaco Conti perhaps?

    Bobs WorthPA

  6. Almost 50 years ago to the day, a horse from Ireland ripped up the formbook, stormed past the legendary Mill House and won the first of three successive Gold Cups. He won his second Gold Cup by 20 lengths and his third by 30 lengths. That horse was Arkle and, to this very day, he is still regarded as the greatest steeplechaser of them all.

    ArklePA