The announcement of his imminent retirement and his epic success on Carlingford Lough in Sunday’s Hennessy at Leopardstown ensures that Tony McCoy is the star turn from last week’s racing activities.

A true colossus of racing and someone who has long transcended the traditional boundaries of the sport, McCoy will retire from riding at the end of the season. As someone who has broken every record possible and set milestones that, in all probability, will never again be reached, McCoy has deservedly earned every accolade and superlative that comes his way. Furthermore, he is getting to retire while still at the peak of his powers and he will end this season by claiming his 20th consecutive National Hunt jockeys’ championship in Britain. Surely we will never see his like again.

Back to the track and McCoy lit up Leopardstown on Sunday in guiding Carlingford Lough to Hennessy glory. Trained to perfection by John Kiely, who was having his first runner in the race, Carlingford Lough dug deep to collar the improving Foxrock and spark rapturous celebrations among a crowd that provided an electrifying atmosphere for the day’s feature.

ADVERTISEMENT

Carlingford Lough ran a race of considerable promise when fifth in the Lexus Chase in December and he built on that to stake a credible claim for Gold Cup glory. He will head to Cheltenham as one of a host of lively contenders for an incredibly open Gold Cup.

For his part, Foxrock confirmed that he belongs among the elite of the staying chase division while reigning Gold Cup hero Lord Windermere showed up well in third as he bids to become only the third horse since Arkle to claim consecutive Gold Cup wins.

Leopardstown’s card played host to three other Grade 1 contests and two of these went to Willie Mullins, whose Nichols Canyon impressed in making all the running in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle. This was a second top-level success for the Authorized gelding, who had become a somewhat forgotten horse prior to his Leopardstown tour de force. He will form part of his trainer’s incredibly strong novice hurdle squad for Prestbury Park.

Irish hopes in the Triumph Hurdle will also rest with the Mullins yard after Petite Parisienne outpointed stablemate Kalkir in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle. However, the suspicion remains that this year’s crop of Irish juveniles may lag behind their English counterparts.

Elsewhere, a host of the country’s top novice chasers served up a cracking edition of the Flogas Novice Chase and it concluded with Apache Stronghold gaining a deserved top-level triumph following runner-up finishes in two Grade 1s earlier in the season. This victory over old rival Valseur Lido ensured that Apache Stronghold went a long way towards vindicating the high regard in which he has always been held by Noel Meade. He could be quite an interesting rival for Vautour at Cheltenham.

Naas

Understandably, all the focus last weekend was on the superb Leopardstown card, but the previous afternoon Naas witnessed a performance of some note from Pylonthepressure in a winner’s bumper.

The Darsi gelding won a Thurles bumper in good style prior to Christmas but looked a potentially outstanding prospect at Naas in making all the running to trounce the odds on Space Cadet.