Captain Guinness came out on top in a dramatic renewal of the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, in which red-hot favourite El Fabiolo was pulled up.

Trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, the nine-year-old was sent off a 17-2 chance, with Willie Mullins’ El Fabiolo starting as the heavily-supported 2-9 market leader in the absence of supposed main rival Jonbon.

However, a jumping error led to Paul Townend’s mount being pulled up, and when the front-running Edwardstone fell at the last – albeit when looking beaten – it was Captain Guinness who went on prevail, holding off El Fabiolo’s stablemate Gentleman De Mee in a real battle up the hill.

Slade Steel was an impressive winner of the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as the 2024 Cheltenham Festival got under way.

Trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, the 7-2 chance travelled in the middle of the field and stalked the leaders before mounting a challenge on the turn for home.

Then he began to pick off the horses ahead of him and jumped into the lead before accelerating again up the hill when strongly challenged by Mystical Power, taking top honours by a length and a half.

“I’m delighted with him, Rachael gave him a super ride and fair play to the Robcour team – they said Ballyburn has beaten us twice and we need to just avoid him, so that’s what we did and it’s worked out really well for us,” said De Bromhead.

Betfair have launched a charity fund which will see them donate £5,000 for every winner Rachael Blackmore rides between Betfair Chase day and the Randox Grand National.

The bookmaker has initiated the launch of the ‘Rachael Blackmore’s Serial Winners Fund’ by donating £100,000, and it is estimated that around £250,000 will be raised for the Injured Jockeys Fund and the Irish Injured Jockeys.

Blackmore, a Grand National and Gold Cup-winning jockey, has averaged around 30 winners in the period between the Betfair Chase meeting at Haydock and the Grand National, which this year takes place on April 13.

Blackmore, a Betfair ambassador, said: “This is a very generous initiative from Betfair and one that I am excited to be a part of over the coming season.

“The work of IIJ and IJF is vital in providing support services for jockeys past and present. It’s great to have Betfair supporting not only me, but two organisations that are so important to us as jockeys.”

Lisa Hancock, CEO of the Injured Jockeys Fund, said: “We are very grateful to Betfair who have been great supporters of the Injured Jockeys Fund for many years. Rachael of course is an inspiration to all aspiring jockeys, and we will be hoping she kicks home plenty of winners over the coming months.”

Michael Higgins of the Irish Injured Jockeys said: “We are very grateful to Betfair for this generous initiative and are delighted to be joint beneficiaries with our friends in the IJF.

“Rachael is a committed supporter of IIJ and a fantastic role model for our sport and hope her current run of success continues. We have major plans in 2024 and a project which will involve significant investment on our part which will transform facilities and services available to our riders. This, along with our existing support programs, will benefit hugely from the fund.”

Minella Indo proved he is no back number as he produced a superb front-running performance in the Irish Daily Star – Best For Racing Coverage Chase at Punchestown.

Winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2021 and runner-up to stablemate A Plus Tard 12 months later, Henry de Bromhead’s charge was pulled up on his most recent appearance in the blue riband back in March.

But despite the doubts, the 10-year-old was a well supported 15-8 favourite for his seasonal reappearance and the money proved right as he dominated from the front under Rachael Blackmore.

Minella Indo was soon bossing the proceedings, with last season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup third Conflated and his five-time Grade One-winning stablemate Delta Work his nearest pursuers for much of the way.

Blackmore steadily upped the ante and on several occasions outjumped the chasing pair before pulling clear before the home turn.

In the end it was left to Gordon Elliott’s apparent third string Hurricane Georgie to chase down the leader, but while she got within a length and three-quarters, Minella Indo was well on top at the line.

Betfair make the winner a 50-1 shot to regain his Gold Cup crown at Prestbury Park in March.

De Bromhead said: “He’s given us so many great days and I’m delighted to see him start his season like that. His work was really good, but it was also good before the Gold Cup and it just didn’t happen for him there. It was a messy start and it just didn’t happen for him.

“He jumped from fence to fence today, his ears were pricked and Rachael said he really enjoyed it. I’m also delighted that Barry (Maloney, owner) is here as well.

“We entered him in the north (Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal) but that’s only a couple of weeks away, so we’ll see. We can enjoy today and decide in the next couple of weeks what we want to do.

“The Grand National is something we can discuss. Coming here after the Gold Cup, we couldn’t make any big plans but we’re really encouraged now for the rest of the season.”