bet365 Gold Cup
 AutoUpdating 150x150 Gif
Sandown 15:35
Grade 3 Handicap,
£175,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus,
3m 4f 166y, Class 1   
Saturday 26th April 2025

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1 Resplendent Grey 9/2
2 Lombron 10/1
3 High Class Hero 10/3F
4 Spanish Harlem 22/1
19 ran NR: Transmission Distances: 1l, 3½l, 2¼l
Time: 7m 23.19s (slow by 5.69s)

A season full of milestones found the perfect final chapter as Resplendent Grey provided new champion jockey Sean Bowen and his biggest supporter Olly Murphy with a fitting finale at Sandown.

Murphy, who has been a vital source of winners during Bowen’s title charge, fittingly supplied the ammunition for one last big success — and true to form, Bowen delivered it from a seemingly tricky position once again.

In first-time cheekpieces, Resplendent Grey travelled with more zest than he had for much of the campaign but still looked flat to the boards as Rachael Blackmore swept to the front on Lombron turning in. Yet with Bowen still in touch after the last, there was a growing sense of inevitability — and sure enough, the 9-2 chance ground his way past to win by a length.

Behind him, it was a Mullins procession — Lombron second, High Class Hero third, Spanish Harlem fourth, Grangeclare West fifth — more than enough for Willie Mullins to be confirmed as champion trainer for a second year running.

A visibly emotional Murphy said: "That was brilliant. I told Sean I wasn’t going on his stag do yesterday — I might have to rethink that now! Today’s about him. I’m only a small cog in the wheel, but to play a part in it is very special. There’s a big team behind me, a big team behind him — and he’s champion jockey now, it’s brilliant.

"I texted him this morning apologising for not giving him a Grade One this year — but I’ll take this!"

Bowen, with his stag party in Tenerife now firmly in sight, was beaming afterwards: "That's amazing. It's been the best two weeks of my life — hopefully it never stops! To do it with my family here is brilliant, but Olly deserves huge credit too. To keep horses in that kind of form all season — a 25 percent strike-rate and over half his runners winning — it's just incredible. He's doing something very, very right."

A champion’s finish to a champion’s season.

Boylesports

Bet365 Gold Cup Chase
£175,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 4f 166y, Class 1
19 ran
Going: Good

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Resplendent Grey 7 10-2 Olly Murphy Sean Bowen 9/2
2 1 Lombron 6 10-2 W P Mullins Rachael Blackmore 10/1
3  3½ High Class Hero 8 10-8 W P Mullins Paul Townend 10/3F
4 2¼ Spanish Harlem 7 10-2 W P Mullins Sam Twiston-Davies 22/1
5 4¾ Grangeclare West 9 12-0 W P Mullins Brian Hayes 14/1
6 nk Monbeg Genius 9 10-5 Jonjo & A J O'Neill Richie McLernon 28/1
7 1½ Victtorino 7 10-8 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch 16/1
8 3 Collectors Item 8 10-2 Jonjo & A J O'Neill Kevin Brogan 50/1
9 5 Minella Cocooner 9 11-1 W P Mullins Danny Mullins 13/2
10 1¾ Knockanore 8 10-2 Ryan Potter Freddie Mitchell 66/1
11 2¾ O'Moore Park 8 10-2 W P Mullins Sean O'Keeffe 12/1
12 23 Chosen Witness 8 10-2 W P Mullins Kevin Sexton 40/1
13 26 Goshen 9 10-2 Gary & Josh Moore Niall Houlihan 14/1
FELL Dancing City 8 10-11 W P Mullins Jonjo O'Neill Jr 8/1
FELL Klarc Kent 9 10-2 W P Mullins Kieran Callaghan 33/1
PU Threeunderthrufive 10 11-0 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 33/1
PU Olympic Man 8 10-2 W P Mullins Jonathan Burke 20/1
PU King's Threshold 8 10-2 Emma Lavelle Ben Jones 22/1
PU Hoe Joly Smoke 7 10-2 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 16/1
NR Transmission 8 10-2 Neil Mulholland NON RUNNER

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