Poignant Bumper success for McNamara on Concorde

Robbie McNamara, first cousin of John Thomas McNamara, so tragically paralysed in a fall at the meeting a year ago, rode his first Festival winner when taking the Weatherbys’ Champion Bumper on the Dermot Weld-trained Silver Concorde.

For Weld, who also ran the heavily-backed Vigil in the race, ridden by Pat Smullen, it was a first success at Cheltenham since Rare Holiday gave him his only other win at the Festival in the Triumph Hurdle of 1990.

The 25-year-old McNamara, who stands 6 foot, three inches tall, has always fought a huge battle with his weight and admitted he was on the verge of quitting the saddle after Galway last summer.