IT'S times like these that there simply is no safer voice to turn to than Donald H Rumsfeld himself. Hey, he might be no Pricewise - he might, for example, be able to tip a festival winner or two, something that proved for the most part beyond the Racing Post's cult tipster last week - but he definitely knew a thing or two about what he knew and what he didn't know. So, after a Cheltenham festival in which so much of what went on caught us all unawares, perhaps it best to divide matters up into Rummy's chosen headings.

THE KNOWN KNOWNS Kauto Star Anyone who's kept up with Ruby Walsh's columns in these pages over the past year, and the past six months in particular, found out nothing they didn't know on Friday afternoon. In a week when the short-price favourite's tag hung uneasily from the head of horse after horse in race after race, Kauto Star was always the one to depend on. He wasn't the shortest favourite of the week but he was the one with least to worry about.

There might never be a more exciting time to be around this horse. Right now, he's Brian O'Driscoll after his hat-trick in Paris, Colm Cooper after his first All Star.

In time, his pre-eminence could well become routine, with injury seemingly the one possible toll-bridge in his way along the motorway of the greatest. It will be a privilege to join the caravan.

Walsh tells a story of the time he crossed the line after destroying the field in last November's Tingle Creek at Sandown, a Tingle Creek that included Voy Pur Ustedes who went on the win the Queen Mother last Wednesday. A measure of how easy the victory was is that not once on the way round did Walsh have to use the whip on Kauto Star. They'd crossed the line and had pulled to a stop when from behind came a galloping Dempsey, running loose after getting rid of Andrew Tinkler six from home. When Dempsey ran past them, Kauto Star took one look and went to tear up after him. A laughing Walsh had to take him in hand and let him know he had no more worlds to conquer for the day.

All the talk and build-up centred on his jumping and staying ability and yet very little light was pointed in the direction of Kauto Star's simple desire to stay ahead of other horses. Maybe you just gloss over things you know for sure.

Denman It's impossible not to wonder sometimes whether or not Adrian Maguire regrets not holding on to this horse for himself instead of feeding him on to Paul Nicholls a couple of years ago.

The former point-to-pointer was immense in devouring the Sun Alliance field on Wednesday, so much so that Paul Nicholls admitted yesterday that his biggest headache next year will be keeping him and Kauto Star from clashing against each other.

To that end, incidentally, he's already talking about sending him to Leopardstown for the Lexus at Christmas and leaving Kauto Star alone in the King George.

So two stars are born, then? Yes and no.

Stars, yes. But born? Hardly. Denman, no less than Kauto, went into the festival with nothing to stop him but himself. His only career defeat was in a tight finish at last year's Cheltenham. Even though it was a bad week for favourites, neither of this pair had a lot to worry about.

FEWER IRISH WINNERS THAN BEFORE Everyone said it. Both Aran Concerto and Lounaos carried the weight of Irish expectations and got nowhere with them. The novice chasers weren't thought to be up to much and so it proved. The Bumper and the Cross-Country are races that don't stir the English blood like they do the Irish and so the victories of Cork All Star and Heads Onthe Ground (or compatriots thereof) had been as good as put up on the board before the week began and the other three winners all went off at prices ranging from 11-1 to 50-1. Nobody was expecting a week of hosannas and nobody got it.

That said, it's unlikely there's any need to go around, Corporal Jones-style, screaming "Don't Panic!" just yet. The occupational hazard of injuries kept some of the best horses at home this year and, with trainers like the Nicholls and the whip-smart Alan King around, the English challenge was always going to rise again.

That little Channel Four graphic that went up after each race detailing the amount of winners that had come from each country did get a bit annoying though.

THE KNOWN UNKNOWNS Black Jack Ketchum It just seems like we'll never know with him. Suddenly, all his good work in building up a spotless run of wins is in doubt.

A fall can happen to any horse but when coupled with him bottoming out when beaten by Blazing Bailey in his prep run, the one Black Jack took on Thursday has done a lot of damage to people's perceptions of him. He has a helluva a lot of reputation to try and claw back now.

Detroit City All through the winter, the thought had just niggled that although he was undoubtedly a seriously impressive type, he'd never faced down a full field of the best of the Irish hurdlers. All he'd done in that direction was beat Hardy Eustace in a race where tactics played wielded a bigger stick than pure ability. He'd never crossed swords with Brave Inca and he'd never come up against as relentless a pack of experienced horses as the Champion Hurdle field would provide. You could never be quite sure how he'd handle it.

The short answer turned out to be the he wouldn't. He ran no race at all and got swallowed up without a whimper. Maybe it will turn out to be one of those runs you ignore and this day next year we'll be hailing him as the new champion hurdler and saying that 2007 just came too soon. We have a full year to change a known unknown to a known known, in that case.

Well Chief Another one nobody could be sure about going in due to having only had one race since his last appearance at the festival in 2005. Like Black Jack, he fell just as any horse can with the Queen Mother fielding tearing away off in front of him. Unlike Black Jack, he has no black marks against his name since his return from injury and the only real worry last week was whether or not the race came too soon after Newbury. Hard to see him not winning his next race, wherever and whenever it may be.

PATHE UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS Sublimity Nobody saw this coming. Nobody. He wasn't a totally unknown horse but a place was all anyone could have really hoped for, especially with the strength of Brave Inca, Hardy Eustace and Detroit City in the field.

Actually, one man saw it coming. He saw it late but he saw it nonetheless. Ciaran Tierney is the spokesman for the syndicate that own Brave Inca and, watching the race unfold on the big screen beside the parade ring, he called Sublimity home from before the second last. Call it fatalism - his horse was beautifully positioned at the time - or call it realism, he looked through his binoculars and shouted "Sublimity!" long before anyone else did. And afterwards, with the happily resigned look of a man who seen his horse give him so much more than he could have ever asked of it, he hugged the rest of the syndicate and accepted Brave Inca's second place with grace.

Although Sublimity's win was a bit of an anti-climax to one of the most anticipated races of the week, nobody was inclined to dismiss it afterwards. Plenty, in fact, likened it to Hardy Eustace's 33-1 win in 2004. Hardy likely won't be back next year and there's talk of Brave Inca going for the World Hurdle. The way could be left clear for Sublimity to take on Detroit City.

If the kings are dead, long live the king.

Ebaziyan Even Willie Mullins couldn't hide his shock at what must have been the quietest reception for the opening winner at a festival in many a year. What made it all kinds of wonderful, though, was the redemption it gave Ebaziyan's jockey Davy Condon. Although his feat was overshadowed a touch by the displays of various Carberrys later that afternoon. Condon's story was maybe the most heart-warming of the festival.

When Holy Orders had to be put down after the World Hurdle last year, Condon lost what was essentially his favourite pet, a horse that had been with him for as long as he'd been race-riding. They'd crossed the world together and ridden in the Melbourne Cup while Condon's best friend Sean Cleary lay in a coma back home, a coma he never came out of. Racing had kicked Davy Condon round the place a lot over the past few years so it was nice for it to repay him a bit on Tuesday when he won on what was only his third ever ride at the festival.

He and Ebaziyan are unknown unknowns no more.

mclerkin@tribune. ie