Cheltenham Gold Cup

Willie Mullins said he felt more pressure than at any stage of his long career as Galopin Des Champs ran out a convincing winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Seven may well be Mullins’s lucky number, as this was just the seventh race of Galopin Des Champs’s chasing career, at the age of seven and he won by seven lengths. Twelve months on from the groan of despair that greeted his fall when clear at the last fence in the Turners Novice Chase, Galopin Des Champs ran into the raucous wall of noise that always greets a winning favourite in the Festival’s biggest race. “Adam rides him all the time and just keeps a lid on him,” Mullins said. On the face of it, that might seem surprising, as Galopin Des Champs set off as the 7-5 favourite and eventually came home with a comfortable seven-length winning margin over Bravemansgame. On another day, Galopin Des Champs might have been caught in the melee, but he emerged unscathed and continued to inch his way forward. Willie Mullins has sent more than 800 horses to Cheltenham over the last quarter of a century, many of which were hot favourites with millions riding on their chance, and welcomed back nearly 100 as winners at the Festival.

Galopin Des Champs cemented his status as the best chaser in training with victory in a pulsating Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.

Kauto Star and Al Boum Photo both fell at the Cheltenham Festival the year before winning the Gold Cup, just as Galopin Des Champs did. There was so little fresh ground that everyone wanted to be in it, and the start was very messy. In the past 40 years, Imperial Call, Best Mate, Kicking King, War Of Attrition, Kauto Star, Sizing John and Al Boum Photo have also won chasing’s biggest prize as a seven-year-old. The admirable Hewick had picked up the baton when Ahoy Senor exited and he was still in the thick of things when falling two out. I don't think the horse understands how good he is, to be honest. "He was good and brave. And when that favourite is out the back early on, not exactly pinging his fences, that responsibility goes up a notch. He has that bit of class, you could run him over two miles, two and a half miles. As Ahoy Senor exited, Galopin Des Champs put in a mighty leap to signal he was warming to his task. She added: “We are going to forget all of that [last year], these things happen and in racing anything can happen as we know. Rachael Blackmore also threw in the towel on A Plus Tard after he was hampered. "I'm absolutely delighted for Audrey Turley (owner), Paul was under huge pressure too and gave him a peach of a ride.

Galopin Des Champs simply proved a cut above his Cheltenham Gold Cup rivals with a blistering performance in the feature race under Paul Townend and Willie ...

I don't think the horse understands how good he is, to be honest." "He was good and brave. They had gone such a gallop, something had to give. "If he has the class, he'll come through, if he hasn't then there's no point. "It just worked out, he gave him a brilliant, cool ride. He jumped his way into the race.

The Scottish horse had looked to be on course for a victory but fell when leading at the final ditch. All three fallers during the sprint returned to their feet ...

Ahoy Senor was looking to take the famous trophy north of the border to [Perth](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/perth)'s as the odds tumbled ahead of the race on a victory. [Gold Cup](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/cheltenham-festival) as heavy favourite to claim one of the most coveted prizes in horse racing, closely followed by Bravemansgame. Then he won his pack of punters a fortune with The Real Whacker at 8-1 yesterday.