TWO days after Edredon Bleu and Lord Noelie gave her a dream double at the Cheltenham Festival, Wantage trainer Henrietta Knight admits she still can't quite believe it.

Edredon Bleu's dramatic short-head victory over Direct Route in the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday provided Knight with her biggest success in ten seasons since taking up training.

And for good measure, the West Lockinge handler landed another championship race in the same afternoon when Lord Noelie captured the Royal & SunAlliance Chase.

A dazed Knight returned home to find the fax machine clogged up with messages of congratulation.

"The telephone never stopped ringing and we had a message from Major Hern which I really value because he is one of the greatest trainers and one of the most knowledgable gentlemen in the business," she said.

Last night, Knight, 53, and her husband Terry Biddlecombe, 58, were hosting a private celebration party for around 20 stable staff and others connected with the yard at the Loyd Lindsay Rooms in Ardington.

Champion jockey Tony McCoy, who gave Edredon Bleu such a brilliant ride, and Uffington-based stable jockey Jim Culloty, who enjoyed his first Festival win on Lord Noelie, were both expected to be there.

Recalling Edredon Bleu's pulsating victory, Knight said: "When I heard the result of

the photo 'First is No 3' I couldn't believe it. I went down the walkway and met Terry and he was in floods of tears. He is very emotional." Knight, a former biology teacher at St Mary's School, Wantage, introduced the Queen Mother, whom she had met before, to Edredon Bleu in the winner's enclosure.

"She said this was always the result she had dreamt about. I suppose her loyalties were with people that she knows," added Knight.

For Biddlecombe, who has been married to Knight for five years, it brought back memories of his 1967 Cheltenham Gold Cup success on Woodland Venture.

"Winning the Gold Cup was emotional, but this was much stronger, being connected with the horse and knowing the work Hen has put in," he said.

Biddlecombe's 17-year-old son, Robert, was also at the track to share the experience.

"Dad was in tears and Hen didn't know where to put herself," he said. "I have not seen them that happy for a long time. I think they are still on cloud nine now."

Edredon Bleu is owned by Jim Lewis, who lives at Evesham, while Lord Noelie runs in the colours of a 12-strong syndicate called Executive Racing, who are run by Ian Rees, who lives at Hendred. Staff still on a real high STAFF at Henrietta Knight's West Lockinge stables admit they will be coming back down to earth with a bump when they next go racing, writes MARK EDWARDS.

After the euphoria of Cheltenham, Jackie Jenner and Matt Jackson, who look after Edredon Bleu and Lord Noelie, say that it will be difficult to go racing at the lesser tracks after this week's experiences.

"Wednesday was the best day of my life," said Jenner. "I was just ecstatic after Bleu's win, but I'm off to Folkestone on Monday and that will bring me back down to earth.

"But at the moment, everybody here is still on a real high.

"As they got closer to home on Wednesday, I knew he had a good chance. As they passed the line, I didn't know if he'd won or not.

"The result was read out as I was walking up to collect him and I just shrieked, ran towards the horse, grabbed him and got a big kiss from Tony McCoy. It was amazing - like I was in a dream."

Although Lord Noelie won his race by one-and-three-quarter lengths, the victory was all the more surprising for Jackson, who thought he'd finished second.

"From where I was standing, it looked like he'd got beaten, but when it got announced, it was unbelievable.

"I only watched him jump one fence and that was the last. As he came up the hill, I was shouting and my heart was pounding.

"I just got such a buzz from it all."

Head lad Drew Miller, who was responsible for looking after all the horses, said: "It was a real team effort. At the course we made sure that the horses were being looked after all the time, and took shifts to go and be with them.

"When it's pouring with rain and freezing cold at a course like Ludlow you wonder why you bother, but days like this make it worthwhile.

"I had a sore throat for two days afterwards!"

Story date: Saturday 18 March

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.