£40m takes a running jump – Cheltenham’s champions day | AgeWage: Making your money work as hard as you do

Ruby comes back on Faugheen

I’m not quite sure about Champion’s Day 2015. Was I dreaming, did Annie Power really jump a shadow and cost Ireland half it’s GDP in a single stride?

I was there, by the fence, I was on , tipped at the post by Glen’s Melody, but I wasn’t watching the finish, I was watching Annie Power get knocked down again and stay down, and see the screens erected. I was waiting for the ambulance and so were 63,000 horse lovers.

And then Annie Power got up and boulted through the screens and we all cheered and applauded and some of us cried (I am welling up writing this). Because Ruby Walsh and everyone of us did not understand what had happened but feared something much worse than the loss of £40m of accumulated bets on trainer and jockey that had included the success of Faugheen , Arctic Fire and Hurricane Fly (1-2-3 in the Champion Hurdle).

It was one of those days , when the sky was an unbelievable blue, and a record crowd of over 63,000 basked in windless warmth.

We even got ushered into the Parade ring for the Champions , where I got as close as I will ever get to the truly heroic Hurricane Fly

With John Tsalos

These horses looked so beautiful in the spring sunshine

That’s the New One with Sam Twiston-Davies

And here are some older ones – Stella and Una

There were lots of posh people wherever we went

and there was Una

And Elaine and Stella

and Rita and Andrew

We went down on a 1959 Routemaster which never got past 50mph but that didn’t matter. We had a lot to eat and drink – and we sang some good songs!

We came back on a cold 1959 Routemaster and had a lot to drink and rolled into Paddington ab0ut two hours late because 63,00o can’t get out of Cheltenham very easily.