Tourist respectstradition

It was a great start for the visitors, a great reminder of history, as Irish horses captured the first two races yesterday.

Tourist Attraction's victory in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle saw the name Mullins once again inked in the box for winning trainer. The Christian name, for the the first time, was that of Willie, whose father Paddy has six Festival wins, including perhaps the meeting's seminal moment, Dawn Run's 1986 Gold Cup triumph.

"At least I'm carrying on the tradition of my father," Willie said. "I hadn't built up myself for a winner and I was hoping she would finish in the first six."

Arthur Moore, and several thousand others, were more confident about the prospects of Klairon Davis, favourite for the Arkle Trophy. Moore did not look quite so comfortable after his gelding was involved in a close encounter with Sound Man and a subsequent stewards' inquiry. Francis Woods, Klairon Davis's jockey, had limited steering options as his whip disappeared in the rotor of Charlie Swan's finish on Sound Man.

Moore refused to debate the race until the inquiry was over, appearing calm though hopping from leg to leg. When the decision came the composure cracked as he looked heavenwards and buried his face in his hands.

"He's one of the bravest in training," said Moore, whose father Dan trained the Gold Cup winner L'Escargot. "It was a good performance for a six-year-old but the age almost beat him."

Another favourite to oblige was Miracle Man, who put more writing on the chart at the bottom of his bed than in the form book last season. "He had the virus, a liver infection and so many other little things I can't remember them all," Colin Weedon, the winning trainer, said.

As ever, there were more losers than winners, but the biggest loser was Warner For Winners who fractured a shoulder in the Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir Chase and was put down.