Cheltenham Gold Cup 2015

Run on going officially described as soft, good to soft in places, after overnight rain, the 2015 renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup was notable for several reasons.

Firstly, it was the last to be contested by Sir Anthony McCoy, who was to retire the following month as the most successful National Hunt jockey of all time, with 4,348 winners to his name. McCoy, who won the Gold Cup twice, on Mr. Mulligan in 1997 and Synchronised in 2012, would finish a distant ninth on Carlingford Lough on his final attempt.

Secondly, it was won by Coneygree, trained by Mark Bradstock and ridden by Nico De Boinville, who was making just his fourth start over fences and thus became the first novice to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup since Captain Christy 41 years earlier. As McCoy later commented, “It was an unbelievable performance from a novice chaser. He got them at it early and stuck at it well.”

Unbeaten in his three previous starts over the larger obstacles, including a facile, 30-length victory in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, Coneygree was sent off 7/1 joint-second favourite, alongside subsequent Grand National winner Many Clouds and behind only 3/1 favourite Silviniaco Conti, who had finished a close fourth in the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Coneygree made all the running, jumping well and, although drifting right on the run-in, stayed on gamely to beat Djakadam by 1½ lengths, with Road To Riches 2 lengths further behind in third place. A barely credulous De Boinville said, “It’s unbelievable; words can’t describe it. He dug deep, but I always knew he had enough left.”