RACING:TONY McCOY'S remorseless will to win was never going to see him take a Cheltenham back-seat for long and Britain's champion jockey fought back in the race to be crowned top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with a 34 to 1 double yesterday.
Not even a potentially catastrophic intrusion onto the racecourse by a protester could prevent McCoy from driving Albertas Run to back-to-back Ryanair Chase victories. The Jonjo O’Neill-trained star bounced back to form with a vengeance with a length defeat of Kalahari King and the Irish outsider Rubi Light back in third.
Disaster was only barely avoided in the closing stages, however, as a protester carrying a banner critical of the big-race sponsor walked in front of the runners. A man was arrested by police.
McCoy himself was full of praise for Albertas Run who was winning for the third time at the festival, although he managed to couch it in playful teasing. “He probably lacks a bit of intelligence like I do so he keeps coming back for more. He has a great attitude. Jonjo (O’Neill) has done an amazing job producing him for the festivals,” he said.
Albertas Run was McCoy’s 201st winner of this season and number 200 had come courtesy of Ireland’s 10th winner of this week’s festival, Noble Prince, who powered to Jewson Novices’ Chase success for Wexford trainer Paul Nolan.
It was Nolan’s second festival victory following Dabiroun’s 2005 Fred Winter victory and he was full of praise of both horse and jockey. “He never missed a fence and if he had we’d have been in trouble. He was brilliant and so was AP,” he said. “Since Dabiroun we’ve had a few disappointing runners and some long faces here but we’ve laid that to rest.”
The opportunity to break the record number of Irish-trained winners at a festival will have to wait until this afternoon, however, after both Son Amix and Sivota proved no match for David Pipe’s remarkable veteran Buena Vista who recorded back-to-back wins in the Pertemps Final.
Buena Vista was running for the seventh consecutive year at the festival but it was a first-time festival ride for his Kilkenny-born jockey Conor O’Farrell. “Mr Pipe has been very good to me since I came over. He’s given me some great opportunities,” the 21-one-year old rider said. “For a horse of his age he’s wonderful round here. This is all any jockey wants to do, ride a winner at the festival.”
Pipe might have been out of luck with Grands Crus in the World Hurdle but he ended the day with a couple of winners as Junior completed a rather special double of his own in the Kim Muir.
Last summer’s Royal Ascot winner was a decisive winner of the amateur highlight under Irish jockey Jamie Codd and could yet attempt a unique treble in next year’s Aintree Grand National.
“He’s a tricky customer and you have to let him think he’s the boss. We booked Jamie some months ago. He won’t get into the National this year but he might go next year. Royal Ascot will possibly be next instead,” Pipe said. Codd reported: “David had said to keep going on him because he’s tough and he’ll keep going. He does everything right and suits the build for the National. Maybe he could go for an Irish National first.”
The gambled-on Beautiful Sound ran a staying on third for Gordon Elliott in the Byrne Group Plate behind the surprise 25 to 1 winner Holmwood Legend.
The winner is one of just 10 horses trained in Somerset by Pat Rodford whose Sparky May chased home Quevega on Tuesday.
Holmwood Legend was completing a quick double having won at Sandown on Saturday. “This one is improving hand over fist and if he hadn’t won on Saturday he wouldn’t have got in,” Rodford said. “Before this year I’d had one runner at the festival – and he fell at the first!”
The Charity race, known as the St Patrick’s Day Derby, was after the final race yesterday and it resulted in a popular victory for the Henry Cecil-trained Plato ridden by Lorna Fowler.
Cecil was making his first visit to Cheltenham and the legendary flat trainer received a huge welcome at the home of National Hunt racing.
