Sire Du Berlais pulled off a huge shock at 33-1 to win the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday under Mark Walsh, who arrived late to deny the 40-1 shot Dashel Drasher.
The victory was a first in the race for trainer Gordon Elliott. Walsh, who has struggled with injuries, said: “He just loves it here and was travelling great the whole way.” Dashel Drasher was demoted to third place after a stewards’ enquiry, with pre-race favourite Teahupoo second and Flooring Porter fourth.
There was Cheltenham redemption on Thursday for Envoi Allen who made a triumphant return to the Festival winner’s enclosure by winning the Ryanair Chase.
The Cheveley Park Stud-owned nine-year-old is a winner of both the Champion Bumper (2019) and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (2020), but suffered an agonising reversal when sent off favourite for the Prestbury Park hat-trick in 2021, unseating his rider early into the Turners Novices’ Chase.