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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Cheltenham 2012 and a classic Gold Cup


What a four days it’s been. There were some great races at Cheltenham this week, but for me the highlight was Friday’s Gold Cup- one of the most exciting we’ve seen in years. There was drama on the first circuit as What a Friend fell at the second, and then Kauto Star was pulled up. Well done to Ruby Walsh for pulling up Kauto so quickly- I‘ve never heard a crowd cheer so much when a horse was pulled up. Everyone was relieved that the greatest chaser since Arkle was still in one piece. With Kauto out of the race, it really was all to play for. Time for Rupert was running a huge race, but as they headed to the last, the likeliest winner appeared to be the 50-1 outsider The Giant Bolster. That would have given us the longest priced Gold Cup winner since Norton’s Coin’s 100-1 victory in 1990. For a moment it looked like Long Run, the favourite and reigning champion would get up, but his run petered out, and it was 8-1 shot Synchronised, given a fantastic ride by AP McCoy who came with a very powerful run up the hill to land the spoils, with The Giant Bolster finishing a gallant second. As I say, one of the most exciting Gold Cups in recent memory.

You can hear me discussing the Cheltenham action on Friday’s BBC Radio Scotland’s Newsdrive, at around 45 minutes into the programme.

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