Reliving the drama between two great buddies as Noel Meade and Gordon Elliott waited for stewards to rule on Galway Hurdle

They stood side-by-side staring at the big screen. The same replay was played on a loop, yet it looked different every time. Friends for a lifetime, foes for now – each seeing what they wanted to see.

"There doesn't seem to be that much interference," argued Noel Meade who, for over 15 minutes, had landed a fourth Galway Hurdle with a horse who had won a Group 1 over four years ago. Some going, that.

Gordon Elliott volleyed back: "Jack [Kennedy] called it even before the stewards' inquiry was called, he said we would definitely get it."