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AP McCoy was never one to give up and made the impossible possible - it was a masterpiece
To whet the appetite for Cheltenham, we're counting down the greatest duels in festival history

Greatest Festival Duels - No. 4
Edredon Bleu v Direct Route, 2000 Champion Chase
One was the initially disappointing horse bought by a furniture importer who was outbid for his original choice and trained by a former schoolteacher.
The other ran for a County Durham farmer who had permanent tinnitus after coming off second best in a clash with one of his cattle, and ran in the colours of two Yorkshire businessmen.
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Published on inGreatest Festival Duels
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more inGreatest Festival Duels
- Friends, rivals and all-time greats - Denman and Kauto Star give us one of the sport's most iconic moments
- How Monksfield conquered Sea Pigeon in an epic - undeterred by the most bizarre pre-race routine imaginable
- Priests and farmers, lords and layabouts - all came together to herald the greatest there's ever been
- The sound from the ring may have been the trembling of the layers, whose liabilities on the two Irish 'good things' would have been colossal
- If the half-length verdict sounds conclusive, it didn't seem that way to an enthralled grandstand - this was vintage Cheltenham
more inGreatest Festival Duels
- Friends, rivals and all-time greats - Denman and Kauto Star give us one of the sport's most iconic moments
- How Monksfield conquered Sea Pigeon in an epic - undeterred by the most bizarre pre-race routine imaginable
- Priests and farmers, lords and layabouts - all came together to herald the greatest there's ever been
- The sound from the ring may have been the trembling of the layers, whose liabilities on the two Irish 'good things' would have been colossal
- If the half-length verdict sounds conclusive, it didn't seem that way to an enthralled grandstand - this was vintage Cheltenham
