The Dawning of the day: 30 years on from Dawn Run and the greatest Cheltenham Gold Cup of all time

Thirty years ago, a stubborn mare piloted by a veteran jockey and trained by a quiet genius produced the most iconic, spine-tingling moment in Cheltenham Festival history

“It’s Wayward Lad, the veteran, trying to break his Cheltenham hoodoo, being pressed now by Dawn Run in the centre… and the mare’s beginning to get up, and as they come to the line, she’s made it. Dawn Run has won it.”

— Peter O’Sullevan, March 13, 1986