Touching tribute to late Shropshire owner John Hales as Caldwell Potter takes Cheltenham win

The horse was subject of a mammoth £600,000 transfer fee in February 2024 with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also amongst the seven-year-old's group of owners.

A Grade One winner in Ireland for Gordon Elliott , Caldwell Potter had won one of his three starts since switching to Ditcheat and was given an enterprising front-running ride by Harry Cobden.

Cobden and the exuberant grey never missed a beat as they led the field a merry dance and when the champion jockey asked his mount to lengthen entering the home straight, the result was soon a formality as Caldwell Potter silenced the doubters with real interest.

Ken Budds' 125-1 Anyway picked up the silver medal, with another outsider, Willie Mullins' O'Moore Park back in third. Trainer Paul Nicholls, who brought up his 50th Cheltenham victory in the race, said: "We switched him into John's colours, I don't think we even told the other boys we were going to do that and Pat (Hales’ widow) is obviously delighted.

"I knew we had him right, he's taken a long while to get right. He's done some good work at home but he's had some problems with his feet and that's all disappeared of late. 

"He had a positive plan, he jumps brilliant. Everyone was trying to tell me what to do and what not to do trip-wise, I felt he wants a trip and I think he'd gallop forever. 

"It's just good to get him back. He's such a brilliant jumper and such a genuine horse. 

"Just because he had a big price tag, he's had to put up with plenty of stick but it doesn't matter, when they come through that front gate, they're all worth the same. 

"You've just got to work away to get them right and today he was right."

Of notching his 50th Festival win, Nicholls added: "I never thought I'd ever do that when I started, any winner here is fantastic. 

"John was such a brilliant supporter of mine, and a friend to a lot of people in racing, to win in his colours is just unbelievable." 

Hales' daughter Lisa underlined the faith her father had in Caldwell Potter, despite a couple of slight disappointments following his headline-making purchase.

She said: "Dad really believed in this horse and he'll be so sad he's missed today.

"He so deserved it as I gave him some stick over buying him, to be honest. He was the only one that believed in him out of the family and look at him, he's gone and repaid him.

"Words can't explain how it feels. It wasn't until they set off that I realised he was in dad's colours. Paul said 'yeah, I didn't ask anybody, I just put them on'. To have a winner here in his colours, less than two months after he passed, is incredible."

Hales was uppermost in Ferguson's thoughts, as he said: "We shared lots of great days together and John introduced me to the level you have to get to in National Hunt racing. The horses we've bought with him have been more expensive than the ones we normally would have bought, like Regent's Stroll and this one, but when you see that today, it doesn't matter what the price is.You can't buy how I feel now, it's fantastic. 

"The difference in football is if you buy an expensive player, you have plenty of time to assess them, you work out the type of player you need and what will fit your team and do they have the character - you can't do that with a horse, you can't look into their character, so it's a gamble. 

"With a footballer, it's a long-term thing, they can start at 17 and play until they are 41, like Ryan Giggs , whereas with a horse, when they get to 10, 11, 12 you start to wonder how much longer they will last. 

"No matter how long this horse lasts, he has done something today we are so proud of. 

"I didn't know it was Paul's 50th winner here, so that's great for him - I think he owes us another one!"