Hughes hoping to earn Gold stripe with Colonel

The Cheltenham Gold Cup remains the premier event in the steeplechasing calendar, and Dessie Hughes certainly knows what it takes to win the Blue-Riband event of the festival, having piloted the Mick O’Toole-trained Davy Lad to victory in the 1977 race.

Fast forward 26 years as 59-year-old Hughes prepares to saddle his very first runner in the Gold Cup.

The horse in question is Colonel Braxton, runner-up with Norman Williamson aboard in both this season’s Ericsson and Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup Chases’ at Leopardstown.