Cheltenham Festival: Teahupoo vindicates support to win Stayers' Hurdle for Gordon Elliott

Gordon Elliott notched back-to-back victories in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle as Teahupoo stormed up the Cheltenham hill for Festival glory.

The seven-year-old could only finish third behind veteran stablemate Sire Du Berlais when sent off the 9-4 favourite 12 months ago, but made no mistake on his return to Prestbury Park in the hands of Jack Kennedy – who along with the Cullentra House handler was getting off the mark for the week.

Sent off the well-backed 5-4 favourite having not been seen since claiming a second Hatton’s Grace in December, he was ridden with plenty of confidence and also plenty of daylight as he charted a wide path on his latest trip to the Cotwolds.

Kennedy inched his mount into contention two out and although not fluent at the penultimate flight, he was hot on the tail of Flooring Porter as the business end approached.

Fellow Irish raiders Home By The Lee and Buddy One were also in the mix on the long run to the last but Teahupoo soon cemented his dominance and having jumped the final flight with a narrow advantage, he was not for catching in the closing stages as he sprinted clear of the gallant Flooring Porter.

Elliott said: "He's best fresh so we said we’d come straight here. Listen, it’s great to get a winner. They’ve been running well, just hitting the crossbar, they’ve had no excuses but to win the Stayers’ Hurdle is unbelievable and I’m delighted for the whole team.

"It’s difficult to tell myself to stay patient when you don’t have a winner, it’s been a long couple of days but they’ve bene running well. We’ve got one now. This was always going to be our best day, this was one of our biggest guns.

"I was a little anxious when he missed the second-last and then he probably got there too soon