Irish triumph on St Patrick's Day to deny Kalahari King the chance of Cheltenham success

Ferdy Murphy's stable star had been backed down to 9-2 second favourite for the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase as he looked to become the first Yorkshire winner of one of the Festival's premier races since 1994.

However, the race was run at a ferocious pace and as Big Zeb galloped remorselessly down the Cheltenham hill, the nine-year-old bay gelding was unable to stay with the eventual winner, whose jumping, for once, did not let him down.

Nothing should be taken away from Kalahari King's effort, he battled relentlessley up the punishing hill at the finish to beat Master Minded, the odds on favourite, on the line to secure third place.

Owner Julie Morgan, watching from the stands, brushed off the defeat and spoke only of immense pride in her horse.

"Third in the Champion Chase? We would have taken that at the start of the season," she said. "It is a terrific achievement for a horse that has been placed three times three years running at the Cheltenham Festival. We could not be more proud of our wonderful horse."

As she stroked Kalahari King in the unsaddling enclosure she confirmed he would be checked over by the veterinary experts after jumping right throughout the race. However, she also said he would probably run again this season, either at Aintree or Punchestown.

Those thoughts were echoed by North Yorkshire-based trainer Murphy: "He landed on top of one of the fences and Graham (Lee) said he jumped a little bit right, which he has never done before. It's well documented that he has problems with his back and we'll have to take him home and check him over. If he's okay, I would think he'd go to Liverpool."

As for Big Zeb, this was a welcome return to form for a horse with a chequered past.

It was a truly stunning ride and one which left Paul Nicholls's dual Queen Mother hero Master Minded, attempting to emulate Badsworth Boy by becoming only the second horse in history to bring home the hat-trick, floundering back in fourth. Ruby Walsh, who would later go on to become the Festival's most successful jockey when he completed a 26th win of his career on Sanctuaire, was never comfortable on Master Minded and was sending out distress signals some way from home.

In contrast, Big Zeb was always travelling strongly for Barry Geraghty and had a nice lead into the straight off valiant runner-up Forpadydeplasterer.

But Colm Murphy's 10-1 scorer jumped the last fantastically to seal a six-length victory.

It was a particularly satisfying outcome for Geraghty, who had the choice of the first two home and picked the right one.

Trainer Colm Murphy said: "He's had his bad days, and has made stupid mistakes, but everything has gone really well this year. He's taken a bit of knowing and we're learning about him every day. Barry really believes in him and, in fairness to him, he was so bullish of beating Master Minded in Punchestown last year and I thought he was a bit mad, but he's been proved dead right.

"The pair of them have struck up a really good relationship and it's just fantastic. Every day you live with the horse and for him to do this is just magic."

Geraghty added: "It was a great performance. He had a good look around after the last and I thought he was going to pull up, but he found plenty when he needed to."

Master Minded's owner Clive Smith added: "For the first circuit it seemed to be going pretty well, but then he didn't quite go through with it. He didn't assert himself but we'll be back."