Summary

  • Native River (5-1) wins 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup

  • Richard Johnson on board the winner; trained by Colin Tizzard

  • Favourite Might Bite second, 33-1 shot Anibale Fly third

  1. Cornelius calls it!published at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Blow By Blow wins Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    BBC Radio 5 live

    Winning jockey Donagh Meyler: You told me I'll be interviewing you after the race as the winner. You were right! Unbelievable. The dream for a long time to ride a winner around Cheltenham, and here we are. I can't explain how good it is.

  2. Johnson penalised for excessive whippingpublished at 17:05 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Native River wins Gold Cup

    Some news from the Gold Cup....

    Winning rider Richard Johnson has been suspended for seven days and fined £6,550 for using his whip above the permitted level.

    Johnson, on Native River, has been disciplined for excessive use from the approach to the second last fence in the Gold Cup.

  3. 'I cannot believe it'published at 17:02 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    BBC Radio 5 live

    Trainer Gordon Elliott on Blow By Blow's win: "If I couldn't win the Gold Cup then this is the race I wanted to win. This horse ran unbelievably well. I've got eight winners now. I cannot believe it."

  4. WINNER - Blow By Blowpublished at 16:58 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    Sensational stuff from Blow By Blow! Gordon Elliott needs to buy a lottery ticket this week. Not that he needs the cash with the amount he's winning this week.

    That's his eighth winner at the Festival - equalling Willie Mullins' all-time record.

  5. Postpublished at 16:57 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    Brillare Momento reels in Blow By Blow, who then decides to step on the gas and accelerate away again... One to go... Blow By Blow is over safely. No-one is going to catch him now...

  6. Postpublished at 16:56 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    Three from the finish and Blow and Blow is still in command with a three length lead. He is trained by Gordon Elliott by the way...

    Brillare Momento is the nearest challenger...

  7. Postpublished at 16:54 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    No Hassle Hoff has started very well actually, crammed into a pack of three a length or two behind early leader Blow By Blow...

  8. Postpublished at 16:53 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    Ten flights of hurdles for this 24-horse field. I like the sound of No Hassle Hoff for no other reason than I loved Knight Rider as a kid. And they're off!

  9. Postpublished at 16:49 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (16:50 GMT)

    Right then... on to the penultimate race of the day. In fact, the penultimate race of the Cheltenham Festival.

    Jockey JJ Slevin is aiming to eat his slice of Cheltenham history by winning this race for conditional jockeys for the second successive year. That's something no other jockey has managed to do.

    Slevin is on Early Doors, a 12-1 shot in the pack of fancied chances just behind favourite Deal D'estruval.

  10. 'He jumps for fun'published at 16:45 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Native River wins Gold Cup

    More from Richard Johnson, who won the Gold Cup with Looks Like Trouble in 2000: "I'm speechless, he's been a fantastic horse for me and I was lucky to pick up the ride on him.

    "He's just amazing. He jumps for fun. I was getting squeezed, but at the second-last and the last he just wanted it so much. Eighteen years feels a long time ago now."

  11. Postpublished at 16:44 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    It's almost as if the sun is shining on Gold Cup-winning jockey Richard Johnson today...

    Richard JohnsonImage source, Getty Images

    It is the 40-year-old's second victory in the Blue Riband of steeplechase racing.

  12. Postpublished at 16:40 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    I've just been watching another replay of Harriet Tucker's run to victory on Pacha Du Polder. She says her dislocated shoulder, which she had injured a few weeks before the race, meant she couldn't hit her ride as they approached the line. Therefore she had to rely on her vocals cords, barking encouragement to the horse who dug in for victory.

  13. Get involvedpublished at 16:36 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    #bbcracing or text 81111

    Where does that rank among the great sporting injury/triumph stories? I'm sure Tiger Woods won a US Open with a broken leg in the late 2000s.

    Any others spring to mind? This is a call to you, the great British public. Tweet #bbcracing or text 81111.

  14. Postpublished at 16:31 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    Popped it back in? Ouch! Harriet Tucker, I salute you.

  15. 'I dislocated my shoulder coming into the finish'published at 16:30 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    Jockey Harriet Tucker: It's amazing. It's like a childhood dream. Thanks to Paul Nicholls for everything. I have a bad shoulder and it dislocated when I was coming into the finish. I carried on riding and just popped it back in.

    Pacha Du PolderImage source, Getty Images
  16. Postpublished at 16:28 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    We know they breed jockeys tough, but this revelation from winning jockey Harriet Tucker takes some beating...

  17. RESULTpublished at 16:27 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    10 Pacha Du Polder Miss H C Tucker 25-1

    16 Top Wood Mr S Davies-Thomas 50-1

    dd-ht 2 Barel Of Laughs Mr Alex Edwards 14-1

    dd-ht 5 Cousin Pete Mr N Phillips 66-1

  18. Postpublished at 16:26 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    Meanwhile, just behind Pacha Du Polder, there was a dead heat for the placings...

  19. 'Look what happened!'published at 16:25 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Pacha Du Polder wins Foxhunter Cup Open Hunter's Chase

    Winning trainer Paul Nicholls: "I'm really proud. I'm proud of Harriet who has had hardly any rides. People like Harriet don't get chances unless they are given them and I told her: 'stick with me and you'll get a chance on Pacha at Cheltenham'. And look what happened!"

  20. Postpublished at 16:24 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March 2018

    Charlie Poste
    National Hunt jockey on BBC Radio 5 live

    On jockey Harriet Tucker on Pacha Du Polder: She didn't try and do too much. That has been a deciding factor. No panic whatsoever.