Rathvinden lands the National Hunt Chase
Rathvinden lands the National Hunt Chase

Review of the action from day one of Cheltenham Festival


A review of the rest of the action from the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival where Willie Mullins completed a treble.

Willie Mullins saddled his third winner on the opening day of this year's Cheltenham Festival as son Patrick steered Rathvinden to a thrilling victory in the National Hunt Chase.

The 10-year-old was among the market principals at 9/2 and was given a patient ride by Mullins junior, who was bidding for his second victory in the race following the success of Back In Focus five years ago.

The front-running Sizing Tennessee and Ms Parfois led the field into the straight, but Rathvinden was travelling ominously well in their slipstream and moved to the front after the second-last.

Ms Parfois ultimately refused to go down without a fight under Will Biddick, but the Mullins runner won the argument by half a length.

Sizing Tennessee was a long way back in third.