Cheltenham Festival: Rachael Blackmore claims Gold Cup aboard A Plus Tard

Revenge was sweet for Rachael Blackmore and A Plus Tard, who came back to beat the 2021 winner and stablemate Minella Indo into a distant second in the Gold Cup, 12 months after the roles were reversed.

Blackmore adds National Hunt racing's blue riband event to her long list of successes as Henry de Bromhead's 3-1 favourite showed a turn off pace coming up the famous hill that the classy field could not contend with.

Alex Ferguson's Protektorat was third, with Galvin, trained by Gordon Elliott, in fourth.

This makes it two years running that De Bromhead has saddled the first two in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with just the order changing between 2021 and 2022.

An emotional Blackmore struggled to put into words what it meant to add a Gold Cup to the Champion Hurdle and Grand National triumphs she has earned in the past 12 months.

"Not every jockey gets to be in this position. Last year I had a choice of horses that came first and second in the Gold Cup - like, who is that person?!"

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