Irish on the March at 2011 Cheltenham Festival

While Ruby Walsh may have gotten things off to a rollicking start on Tuesday, nobody could have predicted the Irish romp a day before St. Paddy’s day at Cheltenham. Chicago Grey got things off to quite a start in the National Hunt Chase when sent off as the 5/1 favourite for conditioner Gordon Elliott.

So Young may have gone off as the 2/1 favourite in the Neptune Novices’ but he was well-beaten by 7/1 First Lieutenant as the Irish-bred gets up to tackle Rock On Ruby on the line. So Young mustered a well-beaten third.

Following that, Jessies Dream had been a popular option for the RSA but came up short as the low-profile Bostons Angel got up in time to score at 16/1. Time For Rupert was a major disappointment in this one and he finished the race unplaced.

The day’s feature turned out to be an absolute classic as 10/1 Sizing Europe got home to score over the high-profile duo of Master Minded and Big Zeb. Various bookmakers have made Sizing Europe the 6/1 favourite to tackle next year’s contest successfully. This jumper is building up an impressive Cheltenham career.

Carlito Brigante then conquered the fifth race of the day for the Irish and came in at an impressive 16/1 price tag in what turned out to be a fairly one-dimensional race.

What a Charm completed the Irish sweep to score in the final race of the day.