Francois Doumen's pioneering heroics - and Matt Chapman's best Cheltenham bets
Whetting the appetite for Cheltenham every day until we're off and running
Festival Legends: Francois Doumen
Cheltenham is a very lonely place to end up in the runner's-up spot, and for many British and Irish racing fans there was a feeling of justice having been served when The Fellow gave his popular French trainer Francois Doumen a first Gold Cup success in 1994.
It was the fourth time the horse had lined up in the race and on each of the three previous attempts he had been prepared to the minute through the depths of the Chantilly winter by Doumen and given what looked to be the perfectly timed ride by his Polish-born jockey Adam Kondrat.
The festival fates refused to smile in 1991, when The Fellow failed by a short head to reel in Garrison Savannah, while it was a desperately close thing again 12 months later at the climax to a controversial Gold Cup which saw the eclipse of hot favourite Carvill's Hill and the winning ride of Adrian Maguire on Cool Ground attract the ire of Doumen for the number of times he used his whip.
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