If the half-length verdict sounds conclusive, it didn't seem that way to an enthralled grandstand - this was vintage Cheltenham

Greatest Festival Duels - No. 6
Barnbrook Again v Waterloo Boy, 1990 Champion Chase

There are few sights more edifying in a festival Grade 1 – or most other sporting match-ups, for that matter – than a genuine clash of the generations, where youth takes on experience and the winner takes it all: the title, the adulation and the blessing of history.

Just to see the previous year's Arkle winner line up at the start with the previous year's Champion Chase winner with both at the peak of their powers is a treat in itself; for the pair to go toe to toe all the way to the line in a battle for the ages is the stuff that dreams are made of. This was a dream encounter.