I have two second places this evening and if you'd told me beforehand what would win each time, I'd have thought you were having me on. Wrong, not for the first time, not for the last.

That said, Granit Jack and Brave Inca both ran absolute crackers and were beaten fair and square. Sublimity definitely made a mockery of me. I would have sworn that horse had about four stone to find on the likes of Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace and more again on Detroit City.

But I was wrong. There's a new kid on the block, make no mistake about that.

Don't let anyone pretend that this was a fluke or a flash in the pan. That was a true run Champion Hurdle. We went at a ferocious gallop and my horse absolutely ran his race. Coming off the bend, I definitely thought I had it when we passed Conor O'Dwyer on Hardy Eustace. What I didn't know was that Philip Carberry hadn't moved a muscle on Sublimity. I knew he was coming behind me alright as we came down the hill but I really didn't think he could have been good enough. But he quickened away from me no bother at all, passed me in two strides and zipped away on up the hill. If he can stay fit and well, he'll be some prospect next year.

I could have taken the ride on Ebaziyan and - again, not for the first time - it turned out I picked the wrong horse. A bit of a sickener but there you go. Being honest, I never saw Davy Condon's horse winning that race and I know Willie Mullins is as surprised as anyone here that he did.

Willie and Davy both had a terrible Cheltenham last year and I'm delighted for them to have got this win out of the way so early on in the week. Davy especially deserved a turn in his luck. He's come up through the apprentice ranks and works so hard in Willie's yard, it's great to see him get his turn on the big stage like this. I thought Granit Jack had it coming to the last but such is life.

Even though Granit Jack came close and Brave Inca ran his heart out, the one I think slipped away from me was actually the Arkle. Twist Magic was travelling really well coming to the second last and although My Way De Solzen won well in the end, I would have been very interested in how he'd have handled my horse in a finish. I know AP was going well on Don't Push It when he fell at the same fence but I just felt so happy on Twist Magic before he came down.

I think it might have shown on the television pictures from when I hit the deck.

On the whole, though, a decent enough day. I didn't think I'd ride a winner and I've managed two seconds. And been wrong. Hopefully I'll be right before the week's out.

WEDNESDAY Well, that didn't take long. Denman did what I'd hoped he'd do, what I pretty much said he'd do. He turned up, jumped, travelled and blew them all away. There's a sense of relief about it all. Not so much for myself as for the horse and for Paul Nicholls.

When you know how good a horse is, you just hope he can let the outside world know as well by doing it on the big day. Denman got beat here last year and even though it was the only defeat of his career, it was enough to convince some people that he was quirky or a problem horse. So I'm relieved he proved them wrong and excited about what he could do from here on.

You pick up little things about horses the more you ride them. When he won at Newbury at the start of February, I could feel it in him that if he'd had to go further, he would have, no problem. So today, Paul let me belt away and do what I wanted on him and I decided that he'd have no trouble bowling along out front. And I was right.

Silverburn did okay but got caught for toe at the top of the hill and Mister Hight would have gone very close I'd say if his jumping had been better. I actually thought Mad Fish travelled well but just didn't get home.

But I've one on the board now, thank God. I always say each year that when it comes to Cheltenham, if I walk out the gate with one winner for the week I'm happy. Which is true, absolutely. Still, it's not every year you have a Denman and a Kauto Star. One won't do me this year.

THURSDAY Okay, make that two won't do me this year. Taranis brought me a win I wasn't totally expecting today in the Ryanair Chase. I said in last week's column that I thought he'd run into a place alright but that was assuming My Way De Solzen and Monet's Garden were going to leave just scraps for the rest of us. As it was, My Way went and won the Arkle and Monet's Garden ran no sort of race.

And that left me and Taranis in front coming to the last fence which he made look like a hurdle, he cleared it by that much. Then he did nothing at all in front going up the hill which is never a very good idea with a Cheltenham field bearing down on you. Still, it was great FRIDAY performance from a horse who's only a six-year-old.

The one I wanted. Not just this week, not just this Cheltenham but ever since I've known what the Gold Cup is. It's hard to put into words just what this means to me. Nothing is bigger or more prestigious than the Gold Cup and now the entry on the roll of honour reads: 2007 Kauto Star (R Walsh).

Part of me is glad it's over but most of me is just thrilled that he did it in the end. After all the build-up and all the talk, Kauto Star did it. Who can doubt him now? Who has anything negative to say about him now?

I won't tell lies here - there were parts of the build-up to the race that were starting to bug me a little bit. I was lucky in that Mam and Dad were staying with me across the road from the course and I had Gillian there with me as well. Between them they knew what to do with me, what not to talk to me about. But still, even though most people who spoke to me during the week were saying things like, "Oh, don't worry, he's the best horse in the race", the more you talk about it, the more you can find ways around it.

That's silly when you think about it.

Like I said last week, if Friday's race hadn't been for the Gold Cup, he would have gone off an odds-on favourite.

Because I knew - and most people knew, even if some wouldn't admit it - what a really top class horse he is. He has become in the second half of the season what I suspected and hoped he would during the first half. A horse like that, he's everything. He's been at the beginning and end of my thoughts constantly all year and I just feel so lucky to have come across him.

It's put a cap on a brilliant week for me. I went into it thinking that both Denman and Kauto Star would win and they did. Taranis winning was a bonus, even though I think I could have had a couple more. I'd say Black Harry would have given Wichita Lineman a fair old run up the hill in the Brit Insurance today if he hadn't come down at the last and I think I hit the front a small bit too soon on Ouninpohja in the County Hurdle.

If either of those two - or Granit Jack or Brave Inca or Twist Magic - had managed the win, I would have been leading rider again. As it was, Chocolate Thornton took it with four wins to my three, including a final one on Andreas, a horse trained by Paul Nicholls and one I rode myself last year. How annoying.

I think I can live without it though.