Rachael Blackmore crowned a spectacular Cotswolds afternoon for her and great ally Henry de Bromhead with a sublime steer to coax Bob Olinger home from reigning champion Teahupoo, and land a sizeable gamble in a compelling Stayers' Hurdle.

Bob Olinger wins Stayers' Hurdle as Rachael Blackmore doubles up on day three - Bob Olinger finished superbly to charge away from Teahupoo

The Cheltenham Festival continues to have its fair share of shocks in 2025 and the Stayers' Hurdle on Day Three of the festival was no different as favourite Teahupoo was edged out

Bob Olinger maintained a perfect Cheltenham record in emphatic style after he denied last year's winner Teahupoo to win the Grade 1 Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle. The Henry de Bomhead-trained ten-year-old was a general 20-1 chance overnight but was backed down to 8-1 before the off and secured his third success at the festival.

The Ryanair Chase precedes the Stayers’ and is a very prestigious event in its own right, but there is no getting away from the fact it is for horses that either aren’t good enough or won’t get the trip in the Gold Cup,

For Blackmore, who is joint top rider for the week so far with Paul Townend and Mark Walsh, the Stayers crown gets added to Gold Cup glory on A Plus Tard, last year’s Champion Chase on Captain Guinness and a pair of Champion Hurdle victories on Honeysuckle. For good measure there was also Envoi Allen’s 2023 Ryanair.

Bob Olinger maintained his flawless Cheltenham Festival record when storming up the hill to take the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle under Rachael Blackmore.

Bob Olinger maintained his flawless Cheltenham Festival record when storming up the hill to take the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle under Rachael Blackmore.

Rachael Blackmore wins the Stayers' Hurdle aboard Bob Olinger to complete a Cheltenham Festival double on Thursday.