Carlingford Lough and McCoy win Gold Cup

Carlingford Lough gave Tony McCoy his first victory in the Hennessy Gold Cup just a day after he announced his impending retirement in a thrilling race for the Leopardstown showpiece.

Just 35 minutes after winning the previous contest on Sort It Out, McCoy treated racegoers to a memorable triumph, returning to thunderous applause.

Carlingford Lough (4-1), owned by McCoy’s boss JP McManus and trained by John Kiely, had to be galvanised by the 19-times champion after making a mistake at the second-last fence.

The nine-year-old responded in game fashion and got the better of Foxrock on the run-in to win by three-quarters of a length. Last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Lord Windermere was third.

McCoy said: "You can't fight fate and it was obviously meant to be the way things happened.

“Fair play to John Kiely. Every day I’ve been on this horse he’s produced the goods. He’s done a brilliant job, couldn’t be better.

“JP’s (McManus) family are here and my family are here. It’s brilliant. It’s what’s meant to be.

“It’s amazing the people here at Leopardstown today. I have to be careful I don’t get too emotional, it’s not good for the image.”

Carlingford Lough was halved in price to 8-1 from 16s for the Betfred Gold Cup with Paddy Power, and cut to 10-1 by RaceBets.