County joy for McCoy and Alderwood
Tony McCoy finally opened his account at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival when forcing Alderwood home in the Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Alderwood’s chance looked to have gone when the he was hampered coming round the final bend, but he soon recovered to put in his winning bid.
The 20-1 shot, trained in Ireland by Tom Mullins and owned by McCoy’s boss, JP McManus, jumped the last in great style and battled on resolutely up the hill.
Alderwood clinched victory by three-quarters of a length from Edgardo Sol (25-1), with Sailors Warn (16-1) a head back in third and Plan A (20-1) not far away in fourth.
