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Derek O'Connor
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Two runners-up for me but the Cheltenham Festival acted as a great advert for Irish point-to-pointers

Derek O'Connor looks back at last week's action

Wonderwall and Rob James hold off Its On The Line to win the St James's Place Hunters' Chase
Its On The Line (far): runner-up in the Hunters' ChaseCredit: GROSSICK RACING

It was an incredible week at Cheltenham and great to be part of the occasion. Of course, I would love to have been aboard one of the 20 Irish-trained winners. Instead, I had to settle for two seconds, losing out to another Irish runner in both the Kim Muir and the St James's Place.

The Kim Muir defeat was hard to take. Hitting the front too soon was my downfall on Johnnywho. He travelled so well but I felt he was idling badly on the run to the last. He lost momentum on landing and we weren't able to hold off Daily Present. Well done to Paul Nolan for producing the winner in great shape, and to Barry Stone, who gave him a great ride and deserved his first festival win.

I have a different view about the hunter chase. It was tough luck on Its On The Line who has finished second in the race three times. Still, I thought this was close to being a career-best. 

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Published on inDerek O'Connor

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