Golden duo Honeysuckle and Racheal Blackmore have once again triumphed at Cheltenham, after defending their Champion Hurdle crown in day one's feature race.
Heading into the race unbeaten the Irish raider was a heavily backed favourite, but did face stiff competition on form from Willie Mullins' Appreciate It. Despite the pressures though, both jockey and horse held their nerve in impressive fashion to secure a second successive victory in this race.
After being held behind the leaders, Blackmore let her superstar partner go over the second last, and the pair burst away in the distance leaving the rest of the field in their wake. Fans cheered in delight as the 8-11 favourite galloped on strongly up the hill, crossing the line three-and-a-half lengths ahead of Epatante (16-1), with Zanahiyr (28-1) in third.
The stirring triumph gave Honeysuckle her 15th triumph on the trot. It was also an 11th Grade 1 – the highest level for the sport, for trainer Henry de Bromhead's mighty mare.
"It's just incredible. Walking out there in front of the stands with all the people – this is such a special place and I'm so lucky to be riding winners here," said Blackmore.
Owner Kenny Alexander said de Bromhead "deserves enormous credit" for preparing the champion. "He's a lovely guy and a real horseman," he added. "He does the hard work and Rachael smashed it today, too. She rode Honeysuckle the same way as last year, more or less."
Racegoers gave their equine hero of the day a huge reception as she was walked to the winners' enclosure by Blackmore. "We dreamt of her getting a Cheltenham welcome and she's going to get it. It's just unbelievable," added the trainer.
Honeysuckle is 3-1 with Betfred to make it a hat-trick in next year's Champion Hurdle. She was a first winner of the day from the Irish team of horses, after the British took the opening three contests led by Constitution Hill.
