There was no separating the Irish and the British.
There were some almighty highs and some crushing lows in Cheltenham this week.
The highs were led by Bryony Frost winning the race of her dreams on Thursday and followed up by Paisley Park bringing owner Andrew Gemmill and the whole parade ring to tears an hour later in the Stayers Hurdle.
Emotions were running high after Jamie Codd’s bittersweet champion bumper win aboard Envoi Allen while Noel Fehily’s retirement announcement had the whole place welling up.
The loss of Sir Erec was a jarring reminder of the game’s harsh realities on Friday morning while not a sinner in Pretsbury Park would have begrudged Paul Townend his Gold Cup win on Al Boum Photo.
By the end of it all, the Pretsbury Cup was halved with Ireland and Great Britain tying on 14 wins apiece.
Willie Mullins was crowned the leading trainer for a record 7th time, with his four wins and five second place finishes seeing him edge Nicky Henderson and Gordon Elliott.
He's done it all now.
Closutton master Willie Mullins had won everything in horse racing but the one prize that eluded him was the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
With six 2nd place finishes in the race, he finally won the most iconic steeplechase of all with Al Boum Photo today.
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 15, 2019
Leading trainers standings
Image via IrishRacing.com.
As for the jockeys, Nico de Boinville led them home with three wins. He was followed up by Barry Geraghty, Paul Townend, Mark Walsh, Harry Skelton, Jamie Codd and Rachael Blackmore all of whom won two races.
The sight of Davy Russell, Richard Johnson and other top class jockeys so far down the standings shows just how hard to come by a Cheltenham winner is.
Leading jockey standings
Image via IrishRacing.com.
