Image source, Getty Images

What a story for Ryan Mania. He sat down to talk to our very own Tom English earlier this year - do yourself a favour and read that feature here.

Andrew Thornton
Former Gold Cup-winning jockey on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

Ryan Mania won the Grand National in 2013 but since then had lost his mojo but he has come back well.

The Smith yard has been quiet this winter but you know they have got one right.

Harvey and Sue have done a great job and with these older horses they keep them sweet and happy and do a supreme job on Ilkley Moor.

Trevor Hemmings (the owner) has had some great horses but to have a winner at Cheltenham is special.

The biggest race of the day looks like a battle of the mares between last year's winner Epatante and this year's star Honeysuckle, whose jockey Rachael Blackmore is aiming to become the first woman to ride a Champion Hurdle winner.

Honeysuckle won last year's Mares Hurdle and was a really impressive winner of the Irish Champion Hurdle last month.

Epatante was beaten by Silver Streak in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and needs to bounce back from that.

Goshen suffered heartbreak in last year's Triumph Hurdle when he unseated jockey Jamie Moore after the last - his form since has been a bit mixed but it would be an emotional success for the Moore family.

Image source, Getty Images

We're well into the swing of things now and up next it is the big one...

Charlie Poste
Former jump jockey on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

It looked like David Bass was poised but Vintage Clouds was a good winner.

It paid to be up there and they all jumped well. Not many got into it from off the pace.

This is testament to the Sue Smith stable for a horse in its fifth Festival and a good win for the north.

Winning Jockey Ryan Mania, speaking to ITV Racing: "It has been a long road back. I was lucky to get riders never mind winners!

"He has been a real stalwart in the yard. Unreal. He was loving it all the way round. Never did I think he would storm up the hill like he did."

Mania won the 2013 Grand National on Auroras Encore but then stepped away from racing before returning five years later.

He added: "Eighteen months after the Grand National I was in a dark space and I saw no way out of it other than to walk away from the sport I love. And then I was enticed back with unfinished business being the main reason and luckily I’ve come back and it’s all going well."

1 Vintage Clouds (Ryan Mania) 28-1

2 Happygolucky (David Bass) 10-3 Fav

3 Aye Right (R Johnson) 11-2

4 Cepage (Charlie Deutsch) 14-1

16 ran

Image source, PA Media

Vintage Clouds streaks away from Happygolucky to take victory!

Vintage Clouds, Alnadam and Happygolucky are battling it out heading towards the last...

Pym drifting as Alnadam leads Vintage Clouds with four to go.

Milan Native is improving after a couple of errors had him down at the back early on. Vintage Clouds, Pym and Alnadam the three out in front.

One For The Team is sixth as they run down the hill with 12 to go.

Pym still out in the lead from Vintage Clouds.

Pym leads the 16 runners over the third with Happygolucky down in fifth.

And they're off in the Ultima Handicap Chase.

Shishkin's trainer Nicky Henderson tells 5 Live Sports Extra: "A win on the first day settles everyone. It's lovely to see and he is a bit special.

"There isn't the same atmosphere but nothing changes. You still have the same nerves and it is never over until over the last.

"We've been lucky over the last few years with Sprinter Sacre and Altior and to find another one like one - we are lucky. That was very very good."

A couple of minutes until the third race of the day gets under way. The runners are on their way to post.

With numbers inside the course kept to a minimum, we've had to kit out the Cheltenham earthworms with cameras...

Image source, Reuters

Tom Scudamore is on One For The Team for this race and someone who will be watching on keenly is his daughter Margot, who has been given permission, external by Boris Johnson to watch her dad race.

With schools going back, Margot was worried she would be unable to see the race and wrote to the Prime Minister asking to be allowed to watch. He then got in touch with her school headmaster to make it happen.

Image source, .

Happygolucky could add to the Cheltenham roll of honour for trainer Kim Bailey.

A win last time out at Cheltenham in December came after some useful performances over hurdles last season, including fourth in the Martin Pipe at last year's Festival.

Aye Right could threaten, along with Milan Native and Discordantly.

Image source, Getty Images

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Cheltenham

With limited numbers here, compared to 60,000 or more each day in previous years, winners return to a smattering of applause.

Down by the winning line, Shishkin's groom Jaydon Lee smiles and says: 'How good was that?'

A graduate of the British Racing School, Jaydon joined Nicky Henderson's yard three years ago.

I'm not sure it was his Cheltenham dream for me to be the first to congratulate him, but it may well be the Arkle Chase winner returns to a louder reception this time next year.