SYNCHRONISED HAS WON the blue-riband Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Tony McCoy steered home the 8-1 shot, owned by JP McManus and trained by Jonjo O’Neil, having edged to the front after jumping. From there the Jonjo O’Neill trained horse galloped on strongly to head The Giant Bolster and last year’s winner and favourite Long Run.
Dual winner Kauto Star was pulled up at the ninth fence by Ruby Walsh after losing his place.
“He was off all the way but what I didn’t want to be doing was firing him down the fences,” McCoy said. ”He is an amazing horse and I am delighted for owner JP McManus.”
Winning trainer O’Neill was also ecstatic after the nature of the late win. ”I knew when he was coming down the back with a bit of light we knew we had a chance, and AP (McCoy) got him into a great rhythm,” he said. ”It was a big team effort, everyone has done so much on this horse.”
Kauto Star’s trainer Paul Nicholls said the horse had pulled up from the race well. ”He’s absolutely fine,” Nicholls said.
“Ruby wasn’t happy after he’d jumped a couple of fences and we said if he wasn’t happy to pull him up, and he’s done the right thing.
“There’s obviously something tweaking him,” he added.
Heading for home, Long Run kept good ground alongside The Giant Bolster while China Rock and Time For Rupert remained in contention. The serious challengers in the race were whittled down to three as they approached the final fence and Synchronised stormed clear to produce a stirring victory.
