Two of Lambourn's finest folk star on another Cheltenham day filled with emotion

There cannot be a racecourse anywhere in the world whose history is so synonymous with tales of triumph and despair. How fitting it therefore was that the courageous winner of Cheltenham's great November handicap was a horse whose own story has been transformed from despair into triumph.

Two winters ago, Ga Law looked like a youngster who could give Lambourn trainer Jamie Snowden a regular place on jumping's biggest stages. He was one of the sport's most promising novice chasers, a Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 placed, but his progress was halted by a tendon injury just before the spring festivals. Undeterred, Jamie Snowden told the five owners compensation would come in the 2022 Paddy Power Gold Cup. It was the sort of long-range planning befitting of a man with a military background.

There have been better runnings of the old Mackeson but few more absorbing finishes. Ireland's sole contender French Dynamite led over the final fence, only for a clumsy leap to halt his momentum. Ga Law, who himself had been awkward over the last two jumps, set off in pursuit under Jonathan Burke and bridged the deficit with every stride. It was only in the shadow of the post that he got there, testing to the hilt the patience and nerves of connections who had waited over a year and a half for this moment.