1. Embarassing response from local authorities on accommodation

The cost of accommodation for those travelling to the Cheltenham Festival continues to be off-putting for punters, especially for Irish racing fans who would have typically stayed for all three or four days of the Festival in years gone by. That has to be one of the factors in the declining crowds at the meeting.

Given those trends, it was genuinely astonishing to hear Cheltenham chamber of commerce representative Lindsey Holland, who owns the Cleeve Hill Hotel, insist there isn’t greed within the local accommodation sector when speaking to the Racing Post ahead of the meeting.

“We did some studies about occupancy, how the town is trading, and it’s a rosy picture,” Holland said.

“Hotels weren’t empty because of disgruntled guests. What we learned from the hoteliers is that there’s an absolute band of regulars that come, and a camaraderie each year. The uptake of accommodation has been really strong, and there weren’t any issues with billing last year, or this year… hotels aren’t being incredibly greedy, they’re not pushing the prices up because they can. It’s about having a formula which works and sticking with it.”

That type of response is embarrassing considering the sums so many travelling punters are asked to fork out to race at the four-day bonanza. It simply doesn’t wash with the reality of the expense involved.

2. Istabraq still king in Hill debate

It’s almost a year since this column delved into the debate over whether Constitution Hill can truly be regarded as an all-time National Hunt great.

At that stage, it was felt that he would need to deliver a massive season in 2024/’25 in order to make up for lost time, and the fact he only had one Champion Hurdle on his CV left him some way short of Istabraq’s sensational standing.

Yes, J.P. McManus’ legendary hurdler did fall twice in his career, so it’s clearly not a black mark against Constitution Hill to take a tumble, but the fact Nicky Henderson’s top talent has only raced 11 times in over 1,200 days makes it hard to put him in quite the same light as Istabraq.

Aidan O’Brien sent out the triple Champion Hurdle hero to win 23 of his 29 starts over hurdles, while the only Cheltenham Festival he missed between 1997 and 2002 was due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

That is what you call longevity and turning up on the big stage. An unfortunate missed opportunity to add a second Champion Hurdle to his CV last week means Constitution Hill will probably never eclipse Istabraq’s Champion Hurdle tally.

3. Age Galopin’s biggest challenge

It’s hard to think we saw the best of Galopin Des Champs despite a valiant second in the Gold Cup, though time may be his biggest challenge if returning for a crack to earn back his crown next spring.

Inothewayurthinkin, a two-years-younger rival at the age of seven, is only just entering his peak, whereas Galopin will be a 10-year-old trying to reach the summit again at the 2026 Festival.

Best Mate and Arkle were both nine the year they brought up their Gold Cup hat-tricks, and not since Cool Dawn in 1998 has a 10-year-old managed to plunder the Blue Riband contest. The clock is ticking.

4. Darragh O’Keeffe deserves credit in defeat

There were some winning rides during the week, particularly Barry Stone’s Kim Muir victory on Daily Present - shadowing Derek O’Connor and Johnnywho - while Mark Walsh didn’t let a high-profile defeat on Majborough rattle his cage on Tuesday ahead of a fabulous four-timer.

One jockey who didn’t manage to reach the winner’s enclosure but deserves real credit for his efforts is Darragh O’Keeffe. Despite having limited chances (only one of his 12 rides was sent off a single-figure price/average SP 56/1), he collected prize money on all bar three of his mounts. What’s more, he was a shoo-in to at least be second on one of those, final-fence faller Quilixios (40/1) in the Champion Chase.

The Co Cork rider had noteworthy seconds on Anyway (125/1 in the Jack Richards), Heart Wood (18/1 in the Ryanair) and The Big Westerner (9/2 in the Albert Bartlett), a cracking Gold Cup third on 40/1 outsider Gentlemansgame, and Grade 1 fourths on Forty Coats (150/1 in the Turners) and Gorgeous Tom (11/1 in the Brown Advisory).

There was no major reward for O’Keeffe on the week but he served up his very best in defeat.

5. Mullins still the standout in handicap hurdles

The unusual statistic that Willie Mullins is winless in handicap chases at the Cheltenham Festival rolls on for another year, yet he remains as potent as ever in handicap hurdles.

Changes were brought in to make the handicap races more competitive, notably the need for horses to run at least five times before running in non-novice handicap hurdles (an extension of what’s often dubbed the ‘State Man rule’).What happened even though those races were tougher to access?

Mullins still managed to win the Coral Cup with a horse after having the bare five hurdles runs, Jimmy Du Seuil, and saddled the 1-3-4 in the County Hurdle. You can change the rules, but it seems there is no stopping the Closutton colossus on the biggest week of the season.

6. Unexposed profiles make appeal

It was a week to focus on unexposed types in the handicaps, and largely stay away from older campaigners. Bob Olinger was the only 10-year-old or older winner over the entire week, while 25 of the remaining 27 races were won by eight-year-olds or younger.

Myretown (Ultima), Jaguar (Plate), Haiti Couleurs (National Hunt Chase), Caldwell Potter (Jack Richards) and Jazzy Matty (Grand Annual) all only had the bare minimum number of runs over fences required to qualify for the respective races. The only other handicap chase scorer, Daily Present (Kim Muir) wasn’t exactly exposed in this sphere either, having six previous starts over fences.

Less proved to be more in terms of the ideal preparation for handicap chases.

7. The mares’ dilemma

We all want to see the best take on the best at Cheltenham, but as long as connections have the option to take an easier route at the meeting, they are fully within their rights to do so.

Many seem to expect a top performer like Lossiemouth won’t be allowed to return to the Mares’ Hurdle next season, that the authorities will force the top mares to take on the boys. If that does materialise, there clearly needs to be serious consideration put into exactly how they may go about it.

Some have suggested a ratings cap, yet given the constroversy that can arise from the annual allocations of Irish horses’ handicap marks at the weights reveal each year, it could be an issue waiting to happen if a big-race favourite from Ireland was on the border of getting in but ended up being forced out by the British handicapper.

Perhaps a more straight-down-the-line restriction of no Grade 1 winners from the previous 18 months being allowed to run in the race would serve as much purpose as a ratings cap. Handle with caution.

8. Elliott troops did little wrong despite tough week

A winner in the final contest of the week with Wodhooh meant the world to Gordon Elliott after a long four days in which he saddled 52 runners.

Cheltenham can be a lonely place when things go wrong; just ask Nicky Henderson after drawing a blank last year for the first time since 2008.

It’s not like Elliott was having a blowout of exactly similar proportions, however. While 13 of the 16 Seven Barrows runners in 2024 were pulled up or well held, so many of Elliott’s runners simply came up short behind better types on the day.

The Yellow Clay, Teahupoo and Stellar Story all posted Grade 1 seconds, while Better Days Ahead, The Wallpark and Romeo Coolio all finished third at the highest level. County Hurdle second Ndaawi ran a belter too. Barring Brighterdaysahead, there certainly were not too many others in that absolute blowout category from Cullentra during the week.