Named in honour of AP McCoy, Champ returned a winner at Ascot on Saturday.
This was in the Long Walk for the stayers and Nicky Henderson's second horse which became his first horse when Buzz had to be scratched delighted all concerned. He hadn't raced over hurdles for 988 days when he won as a novice so now there is a whole new future open to him.
The second and third in the race – favourite Thyme Hill and previous winner Paisley Park are heading to the Stayers Hurdle but Henderson was non-committal about Champ heading on that route which goes towards the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Jonjo O'Neill Jr was riding Champ for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience as he felt the horse too was enjoying it – so much so that he had to keep a hold on him in the early stages.
More news from the UK – David Ellsworth, one of racing's great characters, is retiring though one cannot imagine him being totally off the scene. We wish him a very happy well-earned retirement.
Not such good news is the Oisin Murphy has surrendered his licence due to a covid breach last year and failing a couple of tests for alcohol. He's having some help in getting back on the straight and narrow and he's too good a jockey to succumb to these problems.
