15 March 2024 , 11:35
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Alan Brazil has gone AWOL for the final day of Cheltenham - with Chris Evans roped in to host the coverage.
The Festival will draw to a close on Friday with the Gold Cup but, despite being poised to present as usual, Brazil is absent despite being pictured with Emma Louise Jones at Cheltenham 24 hours earlier.
As a result Virgin Radio's Evans had to make an emergency switch to fill in at the last minute. He was down the corridor from the talkSPORT studios ready to present his breakfast show on Virgin Radio, but the talkSPORT producers suddenly asked him to jump in.
He said: "He's a proper no-show today, missing in action. So if you have seen Alan Brazil in the last 24 hours, where have you seen him, where was the sighting, what time was it as well? If you don't know what you're looking for, Alan Brazil is robust by nature and robust by character.
"Also missing in action this morning, we've got Ray 'Party' Parlour, he's nowhere to be seen, we haven't seen Dean 'Deano' Saunders for a while, Ally 'Goldenballs' McCoist, no, he's nowhere to be seen either. So if you see any of these characters, we need to know where they are because they need to be back here on the show."
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TalkSPORT's Jamie O'Hara was among those to be less than impressed about Brazil's absence. He wrote on social media: "Waking up to an Alan Brazil no show is exactly the start of the day I needed."
Brazil was due to be on air from 6am until 10am to bring live coverage from Cheltenham ahead of Gold Cup day. Ray Parlour has joked that Brazil texted him at 4.30am in the morning saying he needed a lie-in.
Chris Evans was roped in to present the show (TalkSport)On the final day at Cheltenham Galopin Des Champs is aiming to become just the third horse this century to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Willie Mullins has already landed his 100th Cheltenham winner this week after claiming the Champion Hurdle.
He's confident about the prospects of the Gold Cup favourite. "Galopin des Champs came out of his last race very well and I am very happy," said the Irish trainer, who also won the race with Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020.
"Anytime you win any race at Cheltenham it's special, to win the Gold Cup in its 100th year would be extra special."