Sire Du Berlais had me in a trough of despair - until Barry Geraghty got me out of it

Greatest Festival Rides – No. 12
Barry Geraghty, Sire Du Berlais, 2019 Pertemps Final

Amid the fevered celebrations when Sire Du Berlais won the Pertemps Final in 2019, Gordon Elliott said: "Going to the last, I thought we were beat." I never quite reached that trough of despair myself but there was a lot of grimacing, wincing and tutting as I tracked the 4-1 favourite's disconcerting progress through that three-mile contest.

You know what you're hoping for if you bet on one of JP McManus's in a handicap and it goes off as the well-backed favourite. Something along the lines of Unsinkable Boxer, five lengths clear off the final bend and still on the bridle as the other jockeys row helplessly away.