Winner does little to improve McCoy mood

A WINNER at Stratford saw Tony McCoy reach 199 for the season on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival – but his mount Remember Now left him feeling anything but joyful.

In fact it was more of a cruel reminder as the chestnut is a half-brother to Binocular, who was taken out of the Champion Hurdle at the final hour when it emerged he had been receiving medical treatment for an allergy.

Last year’s hero was easily McCoy’s biggest hope at the showpiece meeting and the most driven of all jockeys was naturally devastated by the setback.