Hennessy Gold Cup |
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| Grade 1, Leopardstown 15:50 €150,000 added, 5yo plus, 3m, Class 1  |
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| Sunday 8th February 2015 | |
1 Carlingford Lough 4/1
2 Foxrock 7/2
3 Lord Windermere 7/1
8 ran Distances: ¾l, 8l, 1¼l
TIME 6m 21.10s (slow by 39.10s)
Carlingford Lough takes the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown for Tony McCoy
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Just 35 minutes after winning the previous contest on Sort It Out, McCoy treated racegoers to a memorable triumph, returning to thunderous applause.
Carlingford Lough (4-1), owned by McCoy's boss JP McManus and trained by John Kiely, had to be galvanised by the 19-times champion after making a mistake at the second-last fence. The nine-year-old responded in game fashion and got the better of Foxrock on the run-in to win by three-quarters of a length.
Last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Lord Windermere was third.
Kiely, having his first winner for 133 days, said: "We'll take it a day at a time with him and see what happens.
"We've been patient with him and he's kept improving from day one.
"I didn't think he'd win a bumper as he was slow at home, but he stayed well. And I still don't think he would have won a bumper. But he would have broke his heart trying."
McCoy said: "I might just get to steer him around on Gold Cup day at Cheltenham, which is probably the most important day of the whole jumping year and, on today's performance, he's got a live chance.
"He didn't really perform great there last year, but he just didn't get into a rhythm. He feels in great shape and look, it's a very open Gold Cup and he's definitely going to go there with a chance, hopefully."
As McCoy warmly embraced Ted Walsh, trainer of Foxrock, Walsh quipped: "It's a pity he didn't retire yesterday!"
The Hennessy Gold Cup
3m, Race Value: €150,000
8 ran
Going: Yielding, Yielding to Soft in places
| Pos | Dist | Horse SP | Jockey /Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Carlingford Lough (IRE) 4/1 | A P McCoy 11-10 |
J E Kiely | 9 | |
| 2nd | ¾ | Foxrock (IRE) 7/2 | A P Heskin 11-10 |
T M Walsh | 7 |
| 3rd | 8 | Lord Windermere (IRE) 7/1 | D N Russell 11-10 |
J H Culloty | 9 |
| 4th | 1¼ | Boston Bob (IRE) 5/1 | P Townend 11-10 |
W P Mullins | 10 |
| 5th | ½ | Texas Jack (IRE) 20/1 | P Carberry 11-10 |
N Meade | 9 |
| 6th | 1¾ | On His Own (IRE) 10/3f | R Walsh 11-10 |
W P Mullins | 11 |
| 7th | 9½ | Home Farm (IRE) 14/1 | D J Casey 11-10 |
H De Bromhead | 8 |
| 8th | 1½ | First Lieutenant (IRE) 11/1 | B J Cooper 11-10 |
M F Morris | 10 |
