Cheltenham Day 3 Review: A Gallopin crash leads to 999/1 win for Bob in Turners

Daryl Carter
17 March 2022
3 min read

Punters in shock as Galopin Des Champs falls at the last.

Join

View market

Twitter

Facebook

View the Betslip

Ghosts of Cheltenhams past came to haunt Willie Mullins on day three, but he was soon back in good spirits with the demolition job done by Allaho in the Ryanair. Daryl Carter has all the info...

"There is little doubt who was the best horse in the race, and the time figure recorded was nothing short of electric! The Gold Cup could be the future target for Galopin Des Champs, who is nothing short of spectacular..."

Galopin Des Champs one fence away from sensational display

Bob Olinger v Galopin Des Champs

Unbelievable Cheltenham drama on the @BetfairExchange

£10.10 matched at 1000
£39 THOUSAND matched at 1.01!#CheltenhamWithBetfair pic.twitter.com/XaVbyptz4l
-- Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) March 17, 2022

Galopin Des Champs brought back memories of Annie Power and Bennie Des Dieux, who saw punters burnt when falling at the last over hurdles at previous festivals. But this was over fences and it was about to be the most exquisite Novice Chase performance for a decade...

Still, it was not to be as Gallopin Des Champs, who had made all of the running and jumped fluently in the main, had Bob Olinger hard at work after three out and was a mile clear at the final flight with £39,488 matched at 1.01 on the Betfair Exchange. That money went straight down the drain as Gallopin Des Champs came down two strides after landing after the final flight.

It was a dramatic finish which saw Bob Olinger matched on the Betfair Exchange at 1000 for £10.

There is little doubt who was the best horse in the race, and the time figure recorded was nothing short of electric! The Gold Cup could be the future target for Galopin Des Champs, who is nothing short of spectacular despite not scoring in the Turner's Novices' Chase.

OH MY WORD

Galopin Des Champs falls at the last with the race at his mercy

£39,488 was matched on him at 1.01 on the @BetfairExchange

The winner Bob Olinger matched 1000 for £10 pic.twitter.com/3amkWq2EmY
-- Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) March 17, 2022

Onto the Pertemps, where Third Wind made it second time lucky in the race as he ran down Alaphalippe in the close stages to win in gutsy fashion to land in running odds of 250.0249/1.

Sire Du Berlais was extremely badly hampered. Mill Green outran his enormous odds of 33/1 to finish third, but the Stewards felt the need to call an enquiry after the race, with the winner drifting right onto the runner-up.

The bigger talking point came after the race when the winning trainer Hughie Morrison was interviewed by Lydia Hislop when he said, "I don't trust people" regarding the Stewards enquiry.

It was a strange interview and reaction from the winning trainer, and it was hard to watch, in all honesty. He was referring to his dead-heat result with Not So Sleepy at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle earlier in the year - strange.

History repeats itself for Allaho and staying king Flooring Porter

It was the first of two scintillating front running displays as Allaho put in a dynamite performance to destroy his rivals in the Ryanair Chase. He made all of the running at a blistering gallop, which saw all six of his opponents out of their comfort zone early on - similar to last year's performance - and there was little to worry about for punters as he never went higher than 1.768/11 on the machine. Janidil ran well and battled on for second ahead of Eldorado Allen, but the pair were no match for the might of Allaho, who ran out a 14 length winner.

History continued to repeat itself as Flooring Porter made all in the Stayers Hurdle to retain his title. Jockey Danny Mullins dictated the race on the front end after an alert start as the flag dropped. He was never headed and won going away at the line. It was a fantastic ride but a gusty performance from the Stayer's Hurdle champion.

Klassical Dream loomed up entering the home straight, forcing the eventual winner out to a high of 6.25/1 on the Betfair Exchange, but the winner had more in the tank and ran out a comfortable winner at the line.

He's floored them all

Flooring Porter lands back to back Stayers Hurdle

The winner hit a high of 6.2 on the @BetfairExchange pic.twitter.com/ef5AYSFmDE
-- Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) March 17, 2022

Coole as you like and Dino disappointing

Coole Cody notched up his fourth win at Cheltenham with victory in the Paddy Power Plate. As it has been all week, those toward the front of the pack dominated proceedings and Coole Cody made it a third consecutive front running victory on the day. He traded at a high of 490.0489/1.

In the Mares Novice Hurdle, the in-running market could not decide who would win with flip-flopping horses inside the final two furlongs around the 3.02/1 - 2.01/1 mark that included Grangee, A Horse With No Name and eventual winner Love Envoi. Still, a strong finishing effort and help from the running rail for the Harry Fry runner saw her power up the Cheltenham Hill.

Dino Blue, who was heavily supported on the Betfair Exchange before the off into 2.26/5, was the disappointment of the race and finished ninth.

Oh Coffey!

In the finale, the Kim Muir was taken by the Venetia Williams trained Chambard at a BSP of 72.4 (as opposed to industry SP of 41.040/1)as he clung to victory from what looked like a winning run coming from Mister Coffey, who traded at a sickening - for me and Cheltenham Focus followers - 1.68/13 in the running.

It was a reminder of the good old days in the Kim Muir with huge SP's of the first four other than the well-backed Mister Coffey 5/1 with Didero Vallis and Fakir D'Alene filling the frame at 66/1 and 33/1