Grey wins first race at meeting with all-the-way victoryOdds-on shot Defi De Seuil never going well From the pub on Tuesday to the winner’s enclosure on Wednesday, the first half of Paul Nicholls’s Cheltenham Festival has certainly been one of contrasts. The 11-times champion trainer had no runners at the meeting for the first time in a quarter of a century on the opening afternoon, but quickly returned to centre stage thanks to a dominant front-running performance by Politologue in the
Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Defi Du Seuil set off as the 2-5 favourite to give Barry Geraghty and JP McManus a treble on the day, but from the moment Harry Skelton kicked Politologue straight into the lead, however, he was jumping so accurately and galloping with such purpose that Defi Du Seuil would clearly need to be at his very best to match him.