Cheltenham: AP McCoy notches up emotional win at final festival

Tears in AP McCoy’s enclosure as perennial champion jockey steers 16/1 shot home in front of family

‘St Patrick’s Thursday’ didn’t bring with it much in the way of Irish-trained successes, but it did at least deliver a victory for a son of these shores that was greeted with unequivocal glee by racing folk on both sides of the Irish Sea.

AP McCoy’s retirement at the end of the current jumps season was always going to lend a touch of wistfulness to this year’s gala, and the win everyone craved for the perennial champion jockey duly arrived with his victory on Uxizandre in the Ryanair Chase.