Robert Thornton, celebrating a 103.5/1 double on Katchit and Captain Cee Bee. He said after the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle victory of the former. "I don’t know what to say - it’s unbelievable. He’s a little terrier. I was flat out all the way to be honest, I didn’t want to let Osana get away down the hill. Katchit is just tough - unreal.

"You have to believe you are going to win otherwise there’s not point doing it. I believed he could but whether he actually did it was another story. I’m delighted." After Captain Cee Bee’s win in the Anglo Irish Bank, Thornton - last year’s leading rider at The Festival with four winners - commented: " "I wasn’t liking the ground early ground and, to be honest with you, I was off grinding behind the bridle from the first down the back straight.

"He’s picked up and held his position and the one thing he can do is jump which is a great attribute round here. Off the bend A P looked as though he was probably going better than me but I was half confident that Captain Cee Bee would pick up and he did. He missed the last and still got away with it. He’s gone well in ground he probably doesn’t like.

"The ground is described as good to soft and it has ridden soft for Captain Cee Bee, but he doesn’t like the ground and it depends on what you are sat on. If you were on a horse that loved that kind off ground then it would probably ride good to soft. You wait and see a couple of race before taking a view on what the ground is like. "Its great to ride an Irish-trained winner, although I wouldn’t want to come in here carrying the Cross of St George!"