Five shocking opening-day results at the Cheltenham Festival

There are just two weeks to go until the Cheltenham Festival and the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Racing Post Arkle and Unibet Champion Hurdle are among the key races on the opening day. It can all look so simple to find winners beforehand, but here we pick out five big shocks that show it never is.

Beech strikes at 50-1 in Champion

A 20-length rout in a three-runner National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell teed up Beech Road for the 1989 Champion Hurdle, but his starting price of 50-1 suggested he faced a tough task. However, that did not prove to be the case.

Richard Guest’s mount, trained by Toby Balding, travelled nicely throughout, led at the last and ran on strongly to defeat Gerry Feilden winner Celtic Chief by two lengths.

Beech Road: Champion Hurdle hero in 1989

It was a bad start for favourite backers as the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Kribensis, successful in the Christmas Hurdle on his previous start, finished seventh as the 11-8 market leader, although he reversed the form in the same race the following season when beating Beech Road into fourth.

Supreme surprise as Arctic impresses

Arctic Kinsman shocked the opening-day crowd in 1994 with a 50-1 success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle for Carl Llewellyn and Nigel Twiston-Davies.

The Edward O’Grady-trained Sound Man headed the betting for Ireland but finished a well-beaten tenth behind the impressive eight-length winner.

Arctic Kinsman was prominent throughout and coasted clear after the last to defeat Pridwell and Dreams End, having arrived with a record of two wins from five starts in novice hurdles.

Punjabi punters strike gold

Binocular was a warm order for Nicky Henderson in the 2009 Champion Hurdle, but it was stablemate Punjabi who prevailed in a brilliant three-way finish.

Punjabi fell heavily when in contention in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton before finishing as a beaten favourite in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton, meaning he was a 22-1 chance for Champion Hurdle glory. But he belied those odds under Barry Geraghty.

The doughty Celestial Halo proved tough to pass on the run-in but Punjabi edged ahead for a neck win, with Binocular a further head back in third.

No stopping Warhorse in Arkle

Joint favourites Champagne Fever and Trifolium filled two of the first three places in the 2015 Arkle, but victory went the way of 33-1 outsider Western Warhorse.

Western Warhorse arrived on the back of one chase run but defied his inexperience to win by a head, although it did not look particularly likely as the field came down the hill on the approach to the home straight.

Despite being pushed along and outpaced at the fourth-last, Western Warhorse responded gamely to pressure and stayed on strongly up the hill to lead in the final stride.

The victory even came as a surprise to trainer David Pipe, who said: “I've been trying to persuade Roger [Brookhouse, owner] not to run him for the last two weeks. It's lucky I didn't get my way!”

Final flight drama for Annie Power

Victories for Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Faugheen meant Willie Mullins was chasing a four-timer on the opening day in 2015 with 1-2 favourite Annie Power in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Bookmakers were looking down the barrel of a £40 million payout when Annie Power asserted her authority approaching the last, only for the star mare to clip the top of the hurdle and slither to the ground.

It was a fall that shocked racegoers and viewers, with 6-1 stablemate Glens Melody going on to score, while history repeated itself last year when Rich and Susannah Ricci-owned stablemate Benie Des Dieux fell at the same flight when in command.

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