Healing joy as Honeysuckle returns to her best with final Cheltenham triumph

Time to give thanks for the existence of the Mares' Hurdle. Oft-criticised for borrowing talent from the Champion Hurdle, this time it gave us easily the best result of day one at the festival and scenes of healing joy as Honeysuckle bowed out on a high.

A mere 40 minutes earlier, Constitution Hill was clearly the star and not just of this day but maybe the brightest star there has ever been. Perhaps that sounds unhinged if you've been watching in the detached calm of your front room and went to stick the kettle on after the Champion Hurdle but the mood around the winner's enclosure was one of pure reverence as Constitution Hill stood sweatily in the middle of it.

We gaped at him and tried to imagine other moments on about the same spot, when authentic legends were being unsaddled and a grateful audience wondered if they were looking at the best ever. "This horse can do anything," Nicky Henderson told us and we were fully ready to believe it. Even the name of Arkle was not too big to be uttered in that moment.