Less is clearly better for Kelly at Cheltenham

Pat Kelly has pulled off some jaw-dropping tricks at Cheltenham this last three years, but the man’s ability to slip into the shadows in the winner’s enclosure while thousands toasted his genius has to be right up there.

When the Craughwell-based trainer won the Pertemps Network Final with Mall Dini in 2016 he shunned the usual queue of broadcast interviews and silence was golden again 12 months later when Presenting Percy claimed the very same race.

Kelly was eventually persuaded to offer up a few words to the written press on both occasions, but he bore the demeanour of a man woken by a bucket of water rather than someone celebrating such unlikely successes.