The job is not something Hugh Cahill considers work. Cahill, who will front RTE’s Cheltenham coverage, is a lifelong sports fan. He came by this passion naturally. At six, he watched his first ever Festival; at seven he was introduced by a relative to the Six Nations; at eight he watched his first World Cup, at ten his first Olympics. The giveaway about all this is the variety. Cahill is in love with many sports, not just racing. In other words, he’s not one of them, his bloodline making him an outsider. And that is why when Robert Hall retired from his post as RTE’s racing presenter, Cahill thought long and hard about whether to replace him. Read more: Cheltenham Festival 2025 to see eye-watering amount of cash gambled as bookies fear betting bloodbath on Tuesday Cahill said: “My thinking was someone else rather than me should get this job; someone who was from racing. “I spoke to Ruby Walsh about my doubts. He said ‘don’t try and be something you are not’. Ruby assured me that he would try and explain a race from a jockey’s point of view, leaving me to bring my own perspective to things. And that’s what I try to do. Ruby and the other pundits are the analysts. I speak to the people at home who like a bet.” That contrast in style turned into a conflict at Leopardstown in February, after a pre-race favourite, Gaelic Warrior, was soundly beaten by a 6/1 front runner, Solness, in the two-mile Ladbrokes Dublin chase. The issue was that there was very little chasing going on, which stunned Cahill as he had seen Solness use the same tactics to win against Gaelic Warrior at Christmas. So he didn’t restrain himself from wondering how the remaining jockeys in the race had allowed Solness to build such a massive lead. In response, three pundits - all jockeys - loudly justified the actions of the conquered and at one point, accused Cahill of talking ‘rubbish’. If ever he appeared to be an outsider, it was then. But he stood his ground and gave as good as he got. This is his take on the row: “It was a bit of a dust-up but not in a bad way. “I just couldn’t understand how they let him (Solness) go especially as he had won doing the exact same thing at Christmas. “In my view, why would the chasing pack allow him to get away? Why make the same mistake twice? “We had a big argument on air, one that stirred a reaction. The other three had a different view to me. And that’s fine. People on X criticised me; others said fair play for asking the question. If someone in racing gave out about me, well, I don’t give a shite. “I’m not there to make people like me. Nor am I there to be the king or horseracing or because I have all the knowledge. I’m there to ask questions.” And he didn’t shy away from doing so. “We had a laugh and a joke about it afterwards,” he says. “I’ve no regrets.” Nor has he about diversifying his career away from rugby and into racing. He has also commentated at four Olympic Games - racing a big part of his job and his life but not the only part. He says: “The sport is cliquish. That’s the nature of it because there are so many people whose whole life has revolved around racing from when they were knee high.” But it is not just that. Cahill says: “Betting is a huge part of racing, let’s not pretend differently and because betting is so important in racing, information is power. There are rivalries between owners, trainers, jockeys, and there is often information that yards don’t want to put out. And because information is so valuable, people, by nature, want to hold onto that. That’s where the cliquishness comes from.” Yet for all its flaws, the sport also has its thrills, Cheltenham being the main one. But there was another moment in February that made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, one of those incidents when he felt like that six-year-old boy again, absorbed by the occasion and the brilliance of what he was watching. Galopin Des Champs is a two-times Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, already considered one of the greats. Yet in February, after winning his third Irish Gold Cup, something else happened, and Cahill was there to witness it. He says: “Galopin Des Champs is a special horse, an incredible talent but at no stage, until February this year, would anyone have said he is the people’s horse, the way Danoli and Arkle were. “Their background stories were different to his which allowed the Ordinary Joe to relate to them, whereas Galopin DesChamps was admired for his consistency, his brilliance, his victories. “Was he the people’s horse? Until February, you would have said probably not but look at the crowd’s reaction to him winning that day. That spoke volumes. You can’t say he is not the people’s horse now because the people embraced him. He fought back. He won and if he wins a third straight Gold Cup then he will go down as one of the best ever.” Trained by Willie Mullins, Cahill is a huge admirer of the Kilkenny man’s devotion to excellence. “Willie is the best trainer in the world. There are two parts to his story, his rise, and then his rebuild after Michael O’Leary decided to take all the horses from his yard. “He almost had to start again after that. But he did so. That’s a lot of money that left his yard but he made a decision. ‘Never again will I be so reliant on one owner’. At the time, I am sure it was some blow but look at him now. He fought back. He’s a champion.” And a 103-times winner at Cheltenham over the years, an extraordinary number that will never be beaten. This week he’ll seek to add to that tally. And if he does things right, the man holding the mic for RTE will praise him, and if he gets things wrong, the same man will be critical, fearless about any potential kickback. Cahill says: “I will never pretend to be the greatest expert on racing. I will never pretend to know more than Willie Mullins or any trainer. “But there is a reality here. People watching racing like to have a bet. Like, remember John McCririck. Not everyone took to him because he was gruff but he was a legend in the betting world. He knew the industry and he was able to communicate the betting trends to the punter. “Now let’s be straight here. Without betting, horse racing dies. Do people realise that? If you don’t serve the viewer who likes a bet then you are ignoring a reality. People watch racing programmes because they like a bet. We need to stop treating the person betting like they are a bold kid in the corner that you have to listen to every now and then. “Horse racing fans liked people like McCririck because they were told what they wanted to hear. They liked Ted Walsh because he was very straight. Viewers loved his honesty. If someone was terrible, a horse or a jockey, he’d say it. Ted had a way of being very much to the point but also be very popular.” Sign up to our horse racing newsletter here to get news direct to your inbox.