Paul Townend

The Gold Cup winner relives his historic race on the "business-like" Galopin Des Champs with Kate Johnson and explains why the victory high is fleeting

- Kate Johnson

“AS brilliant a ride as I’ve ever seen in any horse race,” is quite a compliment for any jockey to hear. The more so when it comes from the retired 20-time champion jockey Sir Anthony McCoy. He was talking to ITV Racing’s Ed Chamberlin immediately after this year’s Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup, when Paul Townend and hot favourite Galopin Des Champs streaked seven lengths clear of Bravemansgame and Harry Cobden.

“Talk about riding a horse with bottle,” AP said. “Oh my God! Talk about the pressure, the privilege of pressure. Oh my God! He coped with it better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Ruby Walsh, the retired 12-time Irish champion jump jockey, who won two Gold Cups with Kauto Star, also praised the “brilliant race riding”, calling it “magic”.

It shows what a cool head Paul Townend has that he responds to such effusive comments about his third Gold Cup win for the leading Irish trainer Willie Mullins with: “It’s nice to hear those things, but you can’t read into it too much. I don’t get carried away. It’s nice to hear compliments and not so nice to hear criticism.”

Assessing the race, Paul says: “The first part didn’t go as smoothly as you’re hoping but that’s the competitiveness of that race and Cheltenham in general. The fact we were still in the race at the last circuit was a help; we got into a bit more of a rhythm after that and it ended up being good.”

Paul didn’t allow himself to think he’d won until he passed the post. He knows all too well that a sure-fire winner can be derailed at any point – famously, Annie Power and Ruby Walsh fell at the final hurdle in the 2015 Mares’ Hurdle at the Festival when the race was hers for the taking, giving Paul his first Cheltenham winner for Willie Mullins on Glens Melody.