It was a happy Easter weekend for Cambridge rowers and riders.

On Saturday tens of thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames in London to watch both Goldie, the second boat, and the Blue Boat win against Oxford over the four and a half mile Tideway course.

The main fixture was one of the most thrilling races in years with Oxford ahead for the first half of the race, taking advantage of the Surrey bend after winning the toss, but never shaking off the Cambridge challenge.

The Light Blues responded to all Oxford's pushes, over-rating them throughout, then took the lead as they passed Chiswick Eyot to finish winners by a length and a quarter.

It was a first Boat Race win for Cambridge coach Duncan Holland and a welcome one too for CUBC Captain, Tom James, who had lost his previous three races against the Dark Blues. Cambridge now lead the series 79 to 73.

Among those on the bank was Rebecca Muttlebury, aged 18, from Plymouth, who had travelled up specially. Herself a rower for her local Plymouth club Mountbatten, she is great great grand-daughter of Stanley Muttlebury, one of Cambridge University Boat Club's greatest rowers who rowed in the Boat Race for four consecutive years from 1887 to 1890, winning three times.

Then on Easter Sunday Cambridge won the inaugural International Student Horse Race at the historic Longchamp racecourse in Paris.

Sam Cutts, Osprey of The Year, (Emmanuel) came first over the seven furlong flat course. She was part of a three-strong Cambridge team racing against riders from the University of Oxford and universities in France and Germany in a field of 12; Helen Jamieson (Homerton) came fifth and Emma Kenney-Herbert (Emmanuel) came eighth. The two Oxford riders came fourth and twelfth.

Speaking soon after the race Cutts said: “It was an amazing experience, totally different to the eventing riding we do normally and surprisingly tiring considering it lasted less than four minutes. Our race was part of a massive meeting. It was a real privilege to be in such a slickly organised international event.”

The Boat Race is available to view online for UK Broadband users until the end of Tuesday 10 April. Click the link above right to download it.

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