Billed in some quarters as steeplechasing's race of the century, Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup proved to be more of a procession thanks to the mighty Denman and his 23-year-old jockey Sam Thomas. Denman, making it 13 wins from 14 career starts, simply jumped and galloped his rivals into submission after taking up the running with a circuit to go. The conquered included no lesser animal than Denman's famed stable companion Kauto Star, the defending champion and a horse that has been rightly showered with many plaudits. Kauto Star's jockey Ruby Walsh could have ridden Denman but stuck with his old partner and as it turned out chose the wrong option, finishing seven lengths adrift without getting in a blow. Walsh, who had ridden two winners earlier on Friday and ended up as top jockey at the Festival, said: "That's racing and sometimes you get it wrong. You can only ride one horse and I picked the wrong one."

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