Cheltenham: Honeysuckle brings the house down with emotional victory for De Bromhead and Blackmore

There were joyous scenes on day one of the Cheltenham Festival when Honeysuckle brought the curtain down on her career phenomenal career with an emotional victory in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle.

And the nine-year-old did not let her adoring public down by showing all the qualities that have made her one of the most loved and admired mares of the modern era.

With Love Envoi refusing to lie down, the brave mare Honeysuckle responded to every urging of her rider to gallop up the Cheltenham hill one more time, going to the bottom of the well and digging deep to edge her way to a titanic one-and-a-half-length triumph.

The victory gave her a fourth victory at the Festival and she signs off as one of the all-time greats having won 17 of her 19 career starts.