Andy Gibson's Cheltenham Festival verdict: Fallout from the Supreme Hurdle

The Sky Bet Supreme Hurdle was the opening race of the 2023 Festival, with the start signalled by the traditional Cheltenham roar from the raucous crowd.

Fourteen runners went to post, with all but Rare Edition (pulled up on the home straight) completing the extended two-mile course on soft going.

The finishing places and betting prices of our featured horses were as follows:

The first point to make about Marine Nationale's winning performance is that he was around three or four lengths ahead of Constitution Hill when comparing the pair from the first hurdle to the fifth. The novice was still just ahead jumping two out before the pair finished upsides at the line.

The Supreme Hurdle winner was more vigorously ridden in the closing stages, but nevertheless, those comparisons add something to the quality of his effort rather than detract from it.

It is also important to remember that time comparisons are just one indicator among many when assessing the quality of any performance.

Marine Nationale was kept to the outside throughout and tracked the runner-up through from the second last to the final hurdle. Facile Vega's mistake at the last certainly helped his cause and accentuated his winning margin. However, the best horse on the day won the race and he showed a really positive head carriage when asked for more effort.

He was increasing his lead close to the line and this pointer, along with those time comparisons offer some encouragement that he may be an above average winner of this contest.

I suspect most watchers would have been expecting Facile Vega to maintain his clear advantage once he hit the front after the second last hurdle, and he certainly appeared likely to go clear on the approach to the final hurdle.

His awkward landing after the last cost him ground and momentum and so maybe he can be marked up a length or two on his losing margins.

That said, he was the second-best horse on the day and two and three-quarter lengths clear of the third horse to finish.

This was still a major improvement on his overall performance last time out and, although he looked relatively one-paced here, a step up in trip and/or softer conditions could easily make a positive difference to him.

After never being placed to challenge Diverge eventually stayed on nicely into third place. He was given a real pick-up-the-pieces type of ride and whether this earned him third place or cost him something better is open to debate.

Even if he reverses this form with the front two at Punchestown one could still argue that this was the correct way to ride an inexperienced hurdler on his first attempt at graded level and yet to face a battle in his two previous runs over the smaller obstacles.

All dressed up with nowhere to go, Inthepocket was travelling well on the approach to the second last hurdle, but the way he was quickly outpaced by the horses in front after two out suggests it did not make any difference to his claims, and he finished clear of the fifth horse home.

After not travelling nor jumping that well, Il Etait Temps was left behind from the second last hurdle. His winning margins at Leopardstown in February over the fourth and sixth to finish in the Supreme imply that there is, at least, a reasonable possibility that he ran well below form here.

He did not make a major blunder at any of his obstacles, but his cause was not helped by reaching for the fourth last and then snatching at the next two hurdles, losing momentum in the process. He jumped the final hurdle cleanly and stayed on at one pace from thereon in.

After using up valuable energy after two out trying to stay with the first two horses to finish, Dark Raven paid a big price by losing three places from the last to the line.

He was in a clear second place just behind the eventual runner up when the pair turned for home. The leaders all finished out of the money aside from him and, although that might be pertinent, it is also just as likely that the reason for this outcome was that the best horses were held up or tracking the pace.

On balance I would prefer to mark him up a few lengths on his losing margins, while at the same time remembering that he finished more than nine lengths behind Il Etait Temps at the Dublin Racing Festival.

He was only a neck behind Inthepocket on that day and was beaten more than three lengths by the same horse in the Supreme Hurdle.

This comparison suggests that, while he can be marked up on his sixth-place finish, he would only have been vying for third or fourth position at best with a kinder trip through the latter stages.

Tahmuras was very quickly left behind by the leading group from the second last hurdle to finish a disappointing 10th and beaten by 20 lengths and more.

He was one of the leading British-trained novice hurdlers which added an extra dimension to the disappointment of his finishing effort.

Perhaps he will be another Tolworth winner that needs a return to Sandown to show his best form in the Henry VIII or the Scilly Isles next season.

After travelling well into the lead at the third last hurdle Chasing Fire was immediately swamped by the leading Irish contenders.

While it is possible that he dropped away rapidly in the style of a horse that had bled or experienced a problem with his wind, at the same time, it is just as likely that the Irish horses will continue to show they are not flattered by the way they left him behind.

His 136 rating adds to the likelihood of the latter explanation being more realistic.