It is 20 years since the first edition of the TV soap Neighbours, and Cheltenham provided its own unique drama as new stars entered the Festival stage.
If there was a theme for the whole week it was 'out with the old and in with the new' as a new era dawned with a four-day Festival.
BBC Five Live's John Inverdale summed it up with the phrase: "The King is dead. Long live the Kicking King."
Triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate is obviously not dead, and he only missed the Festival because of ill health.
But there must be a feeling in his camp that although they would have loved to been there, they wouldn't have won it.
I think the Best Mate Gold Cup era is over. He will hopefully get over his health problems and be back in the autumn, but on bare form he clearly would not have won.
He only just beat Sir Rembrandt last year, and yet there were 13 lengths between 2005 winner Kicking King and Sir Rembrandt (third) on Friday.
Kicking King was flawless. He was like an old master. He didn't do anything wrong.
The only people who didn't believe his stamina would not hold out were the people who didn't believe his trainer Tom Taaffe.
He has that trainer's instinct for all his horses, and knew his stamina would last, and that he could return from a setback which initially ruled him out of the race.
Kicking King's odds drifted to 999-1 after a 'dirty scope' showed up an infection at the start of March.
 | WHAT IS A SCOPE? A fitness test where a tiny camera is put down the horse's throat to see its lungs and assess well-being. |
The dream was over, so they put Kicking King out in a field. And it was his own powers of recovery that told them he was in such good form.
Two weeks later, the horse cruised to victory as 4-1 favourite.
On the face of it, you might think someone has been trying to pull a fast one with Kicking King, but they haven't. They just aren't the sort of people to do that.
Just like humans, a horse can get a bug that knocks them out for a month or six weeks. But you can also feel desperate on Monday and fine on Wednesday.
It is not as though there was a fortune of money for the horse in the days between him being ruled out, and ruled in.
He was popular on the day because of the growing confidence. Kicking King had won the King George well, and been to Cheltenham twice and run well.
His comeback was the stuff of soap operas, with illness pre-empting a great recovery and the concluding tearjerker.
Kicking King's win was one of a record nine successes for the Irish, beating the eight of 1958.
Scriptwriters would love the whole passion and colour of the Irish at Cheltenham, and Kicking King produced the ultimate punchline.
Trainer Taaffe has always been known as the son of Pat, a genuine cast-iron legend who rode Arkle to the first of three Gold Cup wins 41 years earlier.
But there has been a shift in the whole way we look at the family now, and Tom can stand tall in his own right. Racing is proud that such a great name is back on the roll of honour.
And Kicking King's jockey Barry Geraghty is climbing the ladder of great performers on the big stage.
He might have fluffed his lines once in a while, but he now looking every inch the leading man.
| FESTIVAL WINNERS British-trained winners: 13 Irish: 9 French: 2 Leading jockey: Graham Lee Leading trainer: Howard Johnson |
He is a hugely talented, confident 25-year-old, who is performing in majestic style.
When he won the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Moscow Flyer, he drank it all in. He likes the curtain call.
The images of Geraghty, and Conor O'Dwyer - after repeating his Champion Hurdle win on Hardy Eustace - wrapped in the Irish tricolour will be lasting memories of the 2005 Festival.
We don't want Britain dominating racing, and it was tremendous to see the Irish and French doing so well.
French trainer Francois Doumen looks like a film star and while Baracouda was beaten by the Inglis Drever in the World Hurdle, he won two races to cement his remarkable Festival record.
Baracouda is no longer top dog, with Inglis Drever and his team of owner Graham Wylie, jockey Graham Lee and trainer Howard Johnson taking a prominent role.
While a new era dawned, one or two traditionalists stood firm.
The success of reigning champion Hardy Eustace, plus the return to form of trainer Nicky Henderson, showed there is still life in the old guard.
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