'What happened today just doesn’t happen' — O'Sullivan echoes through breathtaking day two

There has been common ground in Cheltenham in the certainty that one man has been looking down on this corner of England this week. You don’t need to pray to any god to share that as a truth.

DEEP MEANING: Sean Flanagan hugs the late Michael O’Sullivan’s girlfriend Charlotte Giles after winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Marine Nationale

If Tuesday was a fitting tribute to the late Michael O’Sullivan – and it was certainly that – then what does that make day two of the 2025 festival? How do we even begin to process the first 48 hours in the Cotswolds this week?

The opening day had got underway an hour earlier than usual when the racing fraternity and members of O’Sullivan’s family gathered in and around the parade ring at this famous racecourse to remember the 24-year old who passed away last month.