Racing round-up: Retiring McCoy set for gold on Carlingford Lough
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He described how “you can’t fight fate”, and after rousing Carlingford Lough to victory in the Irish Hennessy Gold Cup, retiring jumps legend AP McCoy was roared into the winners’ enclosure by the 11,000-stong Leopardstown crowd.
But while there will be plenty of talk about how there will never again be the like of the Ulsterman in the saddle, the 19-time champ will be hoping to go out with a bang only he knows how.
In booting the John Kiely gelding to victory, the nine-year-old was thrust firmly into the Cheltenham Gold Cup picture on a weekend that was full of Festival movers.
With those famous green and gold silks adorning the winners enclosure following Cheltenham’s showpiece event, with Synchronised in 2012, it would be apt that a second win was added by the now-12/1 shot on McCoy’s final season.
Victory in Dublin on Sunday saw him dispose of last year’s Gold Cup victor Lord Windermere, who was 8 ¾l back in third.
However it was a more polished performance from Jim Culloty’s charge, after a few less-than-impressive performances this campaign.
Turning in looking all over the winner, but was undone by the genius of McCoy, and the staying power of eventual runner-up Foxrock.
With him sure to be primed to strike in March, the son of Oscar was cut from 16/1 to 14/1 to retain his title at Prestbury Park.
It was less rousing for Graham Wylie’s two charges though, with pace-setter On His Own fading into sixth, and Boston Bob failing to pick up with much authority having been held up.
The pair are now both 25/1 shots, from 20/1 and 16/1 respectively.
Also on the Leopardstown card were authoritative victories for Apache Stronghold and Nichols Canyon, the pair being cut into 7/1 and 5/1 for the JLT Novices’ Chase and Neptune Novices’ Hurdle respectively.
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