Old Park Star, the 15/8 favourite, led home a British-trained 1-2-3-4 in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle in the opening race of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
The Irish had won the last three editions of the Supreme and were responsible for the first five home last year, but it was all change this time as Old Park Star, trained by Nicky Henderson, scored by a length and a half from Sober Glory, with Mydaddypaddy a nose back in third.
Baron Noir kept on into a never-threatening fourth, while El Cairos, trained by Gordon Elliott, fared best of the Irish in fifth.
Sober Glory, the very well backed 9/2 second favourite, took the field along under Ben Jones and was still in front at the final flight. However, he made a bad mistake which opened the door to Old Park Star, who was always prominent and stayed on strongly up the hill under Nico de Boinville. Mydaddypaddy, ridden in mid-division by Harry Skelton, was delivered with a challenge up the run-in but found himself short of room between rivals and lost second on the nod.
13:20 Cheltenham - Supreme Novices' Hurdle result
1st Old Park Star 15/8 favourite
2nd Sober Glory 9/2
3rd Mydaddypaddy 6/1
Old Park Star was sent off favourite on the back of a wide-margin win in the Sky Bet Supreme Trial Rossington Main at Haydock and is now unbeaten after four starts over hurdles since joining Henderson following a bumper campaign with Paul Nicholls.
Henderson said: "You have got a good horse and we are very lucky that he has come along.
"He did have to show guts today as it got tough out there. Turning in he had to quicken off what was a good solid pace. He made a bit of a mess of the last, but he has got to be brave to come up the hill like that as there were plenty there."
'I think there is a lot of improvement to come'
Old Park Star was providing Henderson with a sixth success in the Supreme and a fourth this century following wins for top-class talents Altior, Shishkin and Constitution Hill.
Henderson added: "There is no better race to get in the bag, and everybody knows that, and we have always said it.
"I think he fits very well with our previous Supreme winners. He is still a big baby in our opinion and I think another year and he will be a much better horse.
"You would expect him to go chasing next season, but he is quick, and he was brave there as there was a fight.
"He had to fight hard, and he did. His jumping was sound and he has got a huge future in front of him.
"He is not the finished article by a long way. I think there is a lot of improvement to come."
On whether Old Park Star will bid to follow up at Aintree, Henderson said: "I don’t know if we will see him again this season as he still strikes us as a big baby. Does he need to run again this season? You would love to if he said yes. We have got four weeks until Aintree so we can have a look and see, but the horse might have done enough for this season.
“I’ve only had him this season, but he was well educated and jumped beautifully. I’ve just had to put the polish on. We are lucky on that score and he is our future.”
Sober Glory reaction
Sober Glory was the big market mover in the race, backed into 9/2 having been a double-figure price overnight, and gave an excellent account of himself, taking the field along until headed halfway up the run-in. His rider, Ben Jones, said: "Nearly isn’t good enough. He has run a brilliant race. There are decent animals in there and he showed he can play a big part in a great race like that. It is brilliant to look forward to the future with him.
“I lost a lot of momentum at the last and then the bump after that didn’t help either, but he showed proper heart to get back up for second place. He is a nice one to look forward to.
“He will stay further, but he is quick enough to do that over two miles out in front like he did today. Good horses run over any trip in any ground.”
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