The Grade 3 Paddy Power Chase was the feature race of the three day Open Cheltenham meeting and it was won by the Irish bred former point to pointer Little Josh (IRE). Trained by Nigel Twiston Davies and given a dashing ride by his son Sam, Little Josh made all the running at a frenetic pace, jumped boldly and kept on strongly up the famous hill to beat the Irish trained Dancing Tornado and favourite Long Run. It was an emotional win for the trainer and the biggest so far for his son and afterwards the proud father said; “I've had some wonderful Paddy Powers, and before that Mackesons, but with the boy riding, this has to go to the top. I've got to feel sorry for Paddy, but it's twice as good when it's my son.”

Little Josh had been an unconsidered 20/1 shot before the race with all the media hype focusing on Long Run. There was no lack of stable confidence behind the winner who had excellent credentials for a trainer who historically does so well at this meeting. The 8yo was bred by Michael Kearns and is by Pasternak out of Miss Top. The mare managed a placing in a point to point and Little Josh began his career as a 4yo the same way. He ran twice and though he didn’t win he showed promise in a winner’s race in Summerhill, finishing a close third. Incidentally Summerhill was also the track where his illustrious stable-mate Imperial Commander made his debut. Since transferring to Twiston Davies, Little Josh has been a model of consistency, winning eight of his fourteen races. The result provided a 1-2 for Goffs December NH Sale as both Little Josh and the runner up Dancing Tornado are graduates of this sale. Both horses could have been bought for a combined total of €4,000 and both horses were also consigned by Gurteen Stud who stand the sire of Dancing Tornado, Golden Tornado.