CHELTENHAM, England – A year ago, Solwhit was sidelined with a tendon injury. Thursday, he won the richest three-mile hurdle race of the year in England in the $410,000 World Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse.

A 9-year-old gelding bred in France, Solwhit, a 17-2 chance, took advantage of a mistake at the last hurdle by leader Celestial Halo to take command and win by 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Paul Carberry.

Celestial Halo, a 40-1 shot in the field of 13, held second, three lengths in front of 9-1 Smad Place.

Solwhit was timed in 5:57.50.

Little Mike will return to turf racing for the Dubai World Cup card on March 30, according to Carlo Vaccarezza, who bred Little Mike and whose wife, Priscilla, owns the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner. Vaccarezza also confirmed that Gary Stevens will pick up the mount on Little Mike in his World Cup race, replacing Kieren Fallon, who was aboard for Little Mike’s eighth-place finish in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on March 9.

The lightly raced Bobs Worth was the 11-4 favorite in the future book on Wednesday to win Friday’s $820,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup over 3 5/16 miles, the richest race of the four-day meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Bobs Worth, an 8-year-old gelding, has not started since Dec. 1, when he won the prestigious Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. Trained by Nicky Henderson, Bobs Worth is unbeaten in four career starts at Cheltenham, including the 2012 RSA Chase over the Gold Cup distance.

CHELTENHAM, England – Perhaps someday Sprinter Sacre will face a challenge in a two-mile steeplechase in England. So far, no one has come close.

Wednesday, Sprinter Sacre extended his unbeaten streak to eight races in steeplechases with a 19-length win in the $525,000 Queen Mother Champion Chase over two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Sprinter Sacre’s easy win led trainer Nicky Henderson to describe the 7-year-old gelding as “nearly a perfect racehorse.”

CHELTENHAM, England – Hurricane Fly won the $596,000 Champion Hurdle for the second time in his career at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday, going past defending champion Rock On Ruby in the final three furlongs to win the two-mile race by 2 1/2 lengths.

CHELTENHAM, England – Sprinter Sacre, a 7-year-old French-bred gelding, has been so dominant in two-mile steeplechases in England this year that he has been quoted at odds of just 2-5 for more than a month in the future book for Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse.

He was down to 1-5 with some bookmakers Monday. Of course, there is no value in that price, but there is plenty to admire in Sprinter Sacre.

Super Cool, a Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old, won his second stakes of 2013 in Saturday’s $1,020,000 Australian Cup at Flemington Racecourse, earning a spot on the list of contenders for the Melbourne Cup at the same venue on Nov. 5.

In the Group 1 Australian Cup over about 1 1/4 miles, Super Cool beat a field that included Green Moon, the winner of the Melbourne Cup last November. Green Moon finished fourth of 10 on Saturday.

The attendance tells part of the story.

In the early 1980s, the National Hunt festival for steeplechasers at Cheltenham Racecourse in western England was run over three days and drew combined crowds of 70,000. In the current age, the event covers four days and draws more than 240,000.

No event is more widely anticipated on the steeplechase calendar, or has greater prestige. Interest is so high that Cheltenham resembles a cross between Breeders’ Cup weekend and the enthusiasm of opening day at Del Mar or Saratoga – spread over four days.

Godolphin has two primary trainers in Dubai, many of the operation’s top horses stabled with Mahmood al Zarooni, who came out of an assistant’s role in Saeed bin Suroor’s barn to become a head trainer in 2010. But the Super Saturday card Saturday night at Meydan belonged to the veteran bin Suroor, who captured four of the seven Thoroughbred stakes, including the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 with Hunter’s Light, and the Group 1 Jebel Hatta with Sajjhaa.

[bc_video_id:286135:]The older he gets, the more miles he travels, the better Jakkalberry seems to perform. Saturday at Meydan in Dubai, the globe-trotting 7-year-old added another victory to his resume, outkicking heavily favored Await the Dawn and to win the Group 2, $250,000 Dubai City of Gold.