That jumps racing can make you roar with triumph one minute and then weep at disaster the next was never more obvious than at Cheltenham yesterday.

The National Hunt Festival got off to a terrific start for jockey Ruby Walsh and trainer Willie Mullins, and the Irish pairing were cheered to the echo by their countrymen and neutrals alike as they lifted three of the first four races in considerable style, including the Stan James Champion Hurdle won in imperious fashion by odds-on favourite Faugheen.

Looking virtual certainties to win an unprecedented fourth Grade One race on the day, Walsh had Mullins’ prize mare Annie Power looking home and hosed in the OLBG Mares hurdle, a race the trainer had won for the past six years with the amazing Quevega. Annie Power was out in front and cruising down the straight, and maybe that was the problem because the 1-2 favourite seemed to think it was all over and lost concentration, clipping the top of the final hurdle and nosediving into the turf to give Walsh no chance of staying aboard.

A collective groan rang out from the stands at the Prestbury Park course, and probably all over Ireland too. It would have been the most sensational of many astounding days for Walsh and Mullins, but that is why jumps racing repels and attracts – the horse has to clear all the obstacles and fortunes can change in the time it takes to tumble.

In behind, Paul Townend on board Mullins’ second string Glen’s Melody had shrugged aside indifferent jumping to be in second. For a moment it looked as though Nicky Henderson’s Polly Peachum under Barry Geraghty would give her jockey a double on the day, but with Townend in driving form, Glen’s Melody clawed her way back up the famous Cheltenham hill to win for Mullins and Ireland.

True horseman that he is, despite having just achieved an extraordinary four Grade Ones in a single afternoon, Mullins was more concerned about the wellbeing of jockeys and horses, Scots-born trainer Alan King’s L’Unique having been brought down in the wake of Annie Power’s fall.

Having been assured that Ruby Walsh and Wayne Hutchinson were fine as were the horses, Mullins said: “Now we can enjoy Glen’s Melody. I’m delighted for (owner) Fiona McStay, who decided to keep him in training and come back for this after last year, and for Paul.”

Townend said: “It’s not the nicest way to win but they are both OK. She’s always been a cracking mare and they’ve been rewarded for keeping her in training. I’m over the moon and a bit in shock.”

Faugheen’s victory in the Stan James Champion Hurdle had been well trailed, but the style of the win, with Walsh keeping the seven-year-old in front all the way and then kicking clear up the final hill, still came as a surprise, not least because the bay gelding finished well clear of Mullins’ dual Champion Hurdler Hurricane Fly in third and last year’s winner Jezki in fourth. In fact, second place went to another Mullins’ horse, Arctic Fire, with young Danny Mullins, the trainer’s nephew, giving him a cracking ride.

Walsh said of Faugheen: “He’s jumped better. He missed the second last but pinged the last. He’s not slow. No-one else wanted to make it so I went my fractions, I wasn’t going to go theirs.”

It was an amazing 1-2-3 for Mullins, and secured the treble for him and Walsh after Douvan lived up to all the hype and comfortably won the Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle, traditional opener of the Festival. The only surprise was that his price drifted to 2-1 favourite.

Un De Sceaux was even more fancied to win the Racing Post Arkle Chase and duly obliged at the odds of 4-6, with nothing else in the field able to get close to a winner who barely touched a twig in what looked like a training romp – the seven-year-old is a huge talent and will surely be favourite for next year’s Queen Mother Chase.

Young up-and-coming Wiltshire trainer Neil Mulholland gained his first festival win when Druid’s Nephew won the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase under Barry Geraghty.

After Gordon Elliott’s Cause of Causes kept up the run of Irish success by winning the National Hunt Chase – named after the late trainer Toby Balding – Paul Townend brought up his double on 11-1 shot Irish Cavalier, trained in Wales by Rebecca Curtis, in the closing CHAPS Restaurant Barbados Novices Handicap Chase.

The bookmakers had been in absolute dread of Annie Power winning as the legion of fans of Mullins and Walsh had backed them to win all four, but the treble was still enough to substantially damage their satchels.

David Stevens of Coral said: “It’s absolute carnage as far as we’re concerned, and we’ll be keeping the shops open until late tonight paying every winning punter. But on the plus side, we have three days to try to win it back.”

That will only be true if the extraordinary Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh head back home to Ireland this morning. And they’re not.