McCoy Rides Denman In Gold Cup

There are few horses that Tony McCoy has not had the pleasure and privilege of riding on great occasions and one had eluded him up to now but it’s finally gone McCoy’s way as Paul Nicholls has announced that he will be riding Denman for the first time when he runs in the Aon Chase at Newbury on February 13th.

And it doesn’t stop there because it has also been confirmed that AP will also saddle up for the clash of the year when Denman takes on Kauto Star at this years Gold Cup on Friday 19th March at the Cheltenham Festival. One of the most anticipated races and showdowns of the year, the Gold Cup will no doubt attract one of the biggest audiences ever so the pressure will really be on McCoy to pull out his A game especially as Ruby Walsh has bagged the Kauto Star ride!

In Racing Post, Nicholls wrote: “I asked Ruby [Walsh] whether he wanted to ride Kauto or Denman at Cheltenham and said to think about it for 48 hours. He came back to me late on Thursday night, and once I knew his decision I acted on the basis of what he told me and we have sorted the whole thing out.

“Ruby said he would obviously have liked to have ridden Denman in the Aon, but he understood the situation and said he couldn’t get off Kauto, the horse on whom he’s won two Gold Cups, four King Georges and a host of other Grade 1s. He also appreciated it would be a huge advantage for AP [McCoy] to ride Denman in a race before the Gold Cup.”