Tony McCoy has got off the mark at his last Cheltenham meeting before retirement, riding Uxizandre to win the Grade One Ryanair Chase.
After drawing blanks on the first two days, the 19-time champion, six weeks from hanging up his boots, produced a no-holds barred ride to lead all the way on the Alex King-trained 16-1 shot.
Despite the long odds McCoy was afforded a warm reception by racegoers among whom were his family who had travelled from Northern Ireland to cheer on the master horseman.
“The thrill this horse gave me, I’ll miss riding horses like this, the ones that run away with you and jump like stags,” McCoy said.
“It has to happen at some point. It’s a bit sad, but we will worry about it this time next year.”
“This time next year I am going to miss it. I am missing it already and I haven’t stopped yet.”
While that was McCoy’s 31st Festival winner, another jockey, Gavin Sheehan, found himself celebrating his first in the following race, the World Hurdle.
A 14-1 chance, Cole Harden also led all the way to give bookmakers some respite after a series of knockout blows from hot favourites trained by Willie Mullins.
The Irish trainer arguably saddled the most impressive winner of the day, if not the meeting so far, when Vautour pinged around Prestbury Park to annihilate his rivals in the opening race, the Grade One JLT novices’ chase.
Ridden by Rugby Walsh, the 6-4 favourite recorded the widest winning margin at the meeting of 15 lengths, and looks every inch a Gold Cup prospect in 12 months time.
“I’ve loved this horse all the time, but I had to really work hard at him for the last three weeks,” Mullins said.
The final day features the showpiece of the week, the Gold Cup, with 18 runners declared, headed by Paul Nicholls’ King George VI Chase winner Silviniaci Conti.
The Mullins-trianed Djakadam is the 7-1 second favourite with the last two winners of chasing’s blue riband, Lord Windermere and Bobs Worth, at 12-1.
