Bookies save £6m as Dunguib fails

THE traditional Cheltenham cheer that greets the start of the Festival's opening race was at its raucous best. However, it took just minutes for the unfancied Menorah to silence the sun-soaked crowd.

Menorah's 12-1 victory in the Spinal Research Supreme Novices' Hurdle saved bookmakers an estimated 6m after Dunguib, Ireland's banker bet of the week, could only finish third after being left with too much ground to make up by rookie jockey Brian O'Connell.

Ireland was soon on the winners' board, however, when Sizing Europe, a former top hurdler, won the Arkle Trophy – the two-mile test for novice chasers.

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The most eye-catching performance was that of Henrietta Knight's runner-up Somersby. Next year's Gold Cup beckons.

On a day of upsets, however, there will have been few more popular winners than Paddy Aspell as he held off the challenge of The Package to land the William Hill Trophy aboard 33-1 outsider Chief Dan George.

Winner of Doncaster's veterans' handicap chase last month, the 10-year-old showed an abundance of courage to win a thriller for Northern-based Aspell.

Those well beaten in this frantic contest included Character Building, John Quinn's Grand National hope, as most punters struggled to make up for lost ground.

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