All eyes on new champion Binocular

BINOCULAR proved the star turn on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, streaking away with the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle under Tony McCoy at odds of 9-1.

On a fantastic day for bookmakers, which saw punters collect on only one of the six favourites, McCoy stole the show on a horse that had been written off by connections last month as an unlikely runner in the 370,000 showpiece.

Beaten into third by Punjabi and Celestial Halo when the short-priced favourite 12 months ago, Binocular – trained by Nicky Henderson and owned by JP McManus – travelled sweetly on his second Champion Hurdle attempt and did not look back after seizing the lead at the penultimate obstacle.

Nigel Twiston-Davies' Khyber Kim (7-1) briefly threatened but Binocular pinged the final flight and went on to pull three and a half lengths clear, with Henderson's Zaynar (15-2) third.

Today's highlight is the Queen Mother Champion Chase.