1977: National Hunt Chase - Mount Prague (M O'Toole) 11/8 fav; Fell

Arrived at Cheltenham after an encouraging run at Navan earlier in the month and was backed to the exclusion of everything else in what is traditionally one of the weaker races of the festival. He was travelling easily on the inside when he had a crashing fall at the 18th fence. The four-mile contest was eventually won by the 14/1 Alpenstock.

Jockey Ted Walsh remembers: "There was a ditch going away from the stands in those days and I ended up making shit of my collarbone at it. I thought he was good thing. I thought it was a matter of him standing up. We were only cantering at the time but he stepped into the ditch and that was it."

1978 - National Hunt Chase - Jack Of Trumps (E O'Grady) 8/ 11 fav; Fell

NOT having learned their lessons in the previous year's race, Irish punters steamed into the JP McManus-owned Jack Of Trumps. Considering he later became a top class steeplechaser, Jack Of Trumps certainly had the talent to justify the support, but a mistake at the 16th fence unsettled his supporters. The next obstacle turned queasiness into despair. Jack Of Trumps fell and the race went to the 10/1 Gay Tie.

Jockey Niall Madden remembers: "The others just weren't good enough! Going into the race we were very confident he would win if he settled, but although he settled to a certain degree, they just couldn't go quick enough to allow him to settle completely. Still he was very unlucky. He was a bit novicey and at the fence the ground was just going away from them on the landing side. He just buckled."

1994 - Gold Card Handicap Final - Gimme Five (E O'Grady) 4/1 fav; 20th

A 32-RUNNER handicap hurdle over 3 1/4 miles may not look the ideal betting medium, but this JP McManus-owned seven-year-old plunged from 10/1 to 4/1 fav on the day. Although he had won his pre-Cheltenham race at Naas, Gimme Five had done relatively little to justify such support. Sure enough, he never figured behind the 20/1 winner Tindari. A monster winning bet on Danoli the following day did just enough according to McManus to "put the wheels back on." Jockey Charlie Swan remembers: "At no stage did I ever think he was going to win. He almost ran away with me going down to the start. He was wearing blinkers for the first time. He had been working well in them at home, but for a horse that normally didn't pull he went mad on the day of the race. He pulled very hard early on in the race and I knew then he would never get home."

1998 - Weatherbys Champion Bumper - Joe Mac (C Roche) 6/4 fav; 2nd.

WINNER of his only start and the possessor of a huge reputation, JP McManus named the horse after his friend, the Limerick hurler Joe MacKenna. A leading Irish bookmaker calculates that almost £500,000 would have been taken out of the ring on the day alone had Joe Mac won. In terms of overall betting, Joe Mac would have cost bookmakers over £2 million - had not Alexander Banquet got in the way. Joe Mac cruised into the straight but could not get past his tough opponent and crucially hung left close home.

Jockey Conor O'Dwyer remembers: "I was pretty confident beforehand. After all, with a 6/4 favourite you think it's only a question of going around. I suppose it's easy in hindsight, but in the back of my mind there was a concern about him having had only the one run. He was too green but he was beaten by a very good horse."