The Cheltenham Festival is no stranger to providing poignant moments. From the back-from-the-brink success of Sprinter Sacre in the 2016 Queen Mother Champion Chase to the tear-jerking victory of Honeysuckle in the 2023 Mares’ Hurdle, the most magical meeting of the year rarely fails to tug at the heartstrings. As such, we shouldn’t be too surprised when events at Prestbury Park leave us claiming we have something in our eye. Nevertheless, Day 2 at Cheltenham 2025 may have surpassed all that has come before.
Having passed away at the age of 24 in February, the name of Michael O’Sullivan was inevitably prominent in the thoughts of fellow jockeys and fans as the meeting kicked into gear. The organisers did their bit in renaming the opening Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in his honour. However, the most spectacular events were to come on Day 2, as the two horses with whom O’Sullivan made his name opted to pay their own special tribute to their departed partner.
The 2023 Cheltenham Festival
Arriving at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, Michael O’Sullivan had tasted his fair share of success in his homeland but was a relative unknown to casual racing observers on British shores. That all changed on the opening day.
Having picked up a win in the Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, O’Sullivan headed to the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle with high hopes aboard the Barry Connell-trained Marine Nationale. A squadron of Willie Mullins contenders, headed by Facile Vega, looked set to provide formidable opposition. However, the young rider displayed experience which belied his years and an ice-cool temperament to launch a perfectly timed challenge and land the opener by just over three lengths.
For many riders, that Grade 1 success would have been enough for the opening day. Not O’Sullivan. Fast forward to race six on the card, and the youngster displayed his talents once more in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. Taking the ride aboard Jazzy Matty for Gordon Elliott, O’Sullivan once again called upon his calm demeanour to overcome trouble in running, hit the front over the last and score by a neck.
🇮🇪 1-2-3 for Ireland! 🇮🇪
And what a day for rider @Michael_OSull as Jazzy Matty is too good in a thrilling finish to the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle for @gelliott_racing #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/7I5dbKr0Dl
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 14, 2023
Two wins were enough to see the unheralded rider lead the jockey standings at the end of the opening day.
February 2025
On the back of that superb breakthrough performance on the biggest stage of all, O’Sullivan appeared destined for stardom. Further big race success followed in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, but tragically, his win aboard Embassy Gardens in a Grade 3 contest at Tramore on New Year’s Day was to be the last notable success of his career.
On the 6th of February 2025, O’Sullivan suffered severe head injuries in a fall at Thurles. Despite the best efforts of the medical team at the track and Cork University Hospital, he passed away 10 days later, only five days short of his 25th birthday.
On behalf of the O’Sullivan family, it is with profound sadness that the IHRB confirms the passing of Michael O’Sullivan pic.twitter.com/LIo58toZpy
— IHRB (@ihrb_ie) February 16, 2025
O’Sullivan’s death hit his family, loved ones, colleagues, and the wider racing world hard and inevitably cast a shadow over the meeting at which he first burst onto the scene.
Cheltenham 2025, Day 2
Sadly, O’Sullivan can only be at the Cheltenham Festival in spirit. However, Marine Nationale and Jazzy Matty are still with us, and both horses lined up on Day 2.
Marine Marvelous in Champion Chase
| Pos. | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Marine Nationale (5/1) | Sean Flanagan | Barry Connell |
| 2nd | Jonbon (5/6) | Nico de Boinville | Nicky Henderson |
| 3rd | Captain Guinness (25/1) | Rachael Blackmore | Henry De Bromhead |
Following his success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Marine Nationale possibly hadn’t quite hit the heights that may have been hoped for. O’Sullivan picked up one more win aboard the son of French Navy in a Beginners Chase at Leopardstown in December 2023, but the horse had tasted defeat in four outings since.
Having finished behind the reopposing Solness and Quilixios already this season, the Barry Connell star looked to have work to do in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, particularly as the Nicky Henderson-trained Jonbon lay in wait.
The market suggested that Jonbon would take some stopping, but the racing gods had other ideas. With the market leader ruining his chance with a terrible error at the ninth fence, it was left to Marine Nationale and Quilixios to do battle in the straight. The departure of Quilixios at the last left Marine Nationale all alone to storm fully 18-lengths clear up the hill, with rider Sean Flanagan looking heavenwards soon after the line.
Jazzy Completes Spinetingling Script in the Grand Annual
| Pos. | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jazzy Matty (15/2) | Danny Gilligan | Cian Collins |
| 2nd | Unexpected Party (11/2) | Harry Skelton | Dan Skelton |
| 3rd | Midnight It Is (25/1) | Sean Flanagan | Gavin Cromwell |
| 4th | My Mate Mozzie (13/2) | Keith Donoghue | Gavin Cromwell |
With the dust barely settling on the Champion Chase and racegoers only beginning to recover from the emotion of it all, the Cheltenham Festival chose to take the improbable to new heights in the very next race.
With Marine Nationale having done his bit, Jazzy Matty wasn’t about to be left out. Now in the hands of Cian Collins, the six-year-old skipped the 2024 Cheltenham Festival but had confirmed his liking for this track when second in a competitive handicap in October.
Warming up with a runners-up effort at Thurles, the mount of Danny Gilligan arrived in form, but so did many of his 19 rivals – headed by the defending champion, Unexpected Party. The Dan Skelton runner moved ominously well in the straight and, unlike Quilixious, did not wilt at the last. However, Jazzy Matty wasn’t to be denied, responding willingly to forge clear for a one-and-a-half-length success.
If written in a Hollywood script, the above events would have verged on the unbelievable. However, they occurred at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday, 12th of March 2025, providing a dream double that left race callers struggling to complete their commentaries and creating memories to last a lifetime.