THE 2015 Cheltenham Festival was the scene of some outstanding performances and one of the most remarkable achievements was that of Coneygree, hero of the Grade 1 Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup.

He is a novice over fences, and so was the first such winner of the race since Captain Christy in 1974, but in beating Djakadam and Road To Riches in chasing’s Blue Riband event, he has done something even more notable.

As the 1986 Timeform essay on Dawn Run notes, Captain Christy was running for only the seventh time over the larger obstacles when he became a Gold Cup hero, as did Cottage Rake when he took the prize for the first time in 1948. Golden Miller (1932) and Mill House (1963) won the Gold Cup on their sixth start over fences, and each of Roman Hackle (1940), Mount Tremblant (1952) and Dawn Run (1986) achieved the feat in only their fifth chase.

Coneygree remains undefeated over fences, his wins coming by an aggregate of 50 lengths, and his victory at Cheltenham last Friday came on just his fourth outing. It is hard to imagine that this record could be beaten in the future.

Before this season he had run only six times, recording a debut success in a bumper and three wins from four starts over hurdles. Two of those came in Grade 2 contests and his only defeats are a third place finish in a similar event at Cheltenham two years ago and an unplaced run in a listed bumper at Newbury a year before that.

He missed an entire season through injury and so when he won the Grade 2 Fullers London Pride Novices’ Chase over two and a half miles at Newbury in late November, it was his first race for 22 months.

Coincidentally the last horse to win the Gold Cup with so little prior chasing experience was the tragically ill-fated mare Dawn Run who, following her Champion Hurdle-winning season took a novice chase, got cast in her box, and was off the track for 13 months.

Coneygree is trained by Mark Bradstock and he was bred by Bradstock’s late father-in-law Lord Oaksey.

He is the first British-bred winner of the Gold Cup since Master Oats in 1995, and he is a final-crop son of the prolific pattern scorer Karinga Bay (by Ardross) who stood at Mickley Stud.

His dam Plaid Maid (by Executive Perk) won once over hurdles and four times over fences, an Exeter specialist whose chase wins all came over two miles, seven and a half furlongs at that venue and whose her penultimate start saw her finish runner-up there in the Devon National over three miles, six and a half furlongs.

She died in 2009, at the age of 17, and her final foal is the six-year-old Kayf Tara (by Sadler’s Wells) gelding Flintham. Also trained by Bradstock, he has won twice from seven starts over hurdles, the more recent success coming in a three-mile novices’ handicap at Ascot in December.

Flintham’s full-brother Carruthers is their dam’s first foal, and although he was only fifth in the Grade 3 Betfred Classic Chase at Warwick on his most recent outing, he is a fine stayer whose six wins over fences include the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot and the Grade 3 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury.

His most recent success came in the West Wales National, over three and a half miles at Ffos Las two years ago, and his prior record includes a Grade 2 success among a record of three wins from six starts over hurdles.

There is little surprise that Plaid Maid became a notably successful broodmare and her success, along with that of her own dam, makes her only daughter Maid Of Oaksey (by Overbury) an exciting prospect at stud.

That mare did not appear to share any of the family’s racing talent, finishing well-beaten in each of four starts in bumpers, but she is by a notably successful stallion, from a top family, and was covered by Kayf Tara just minutes before her half-brother won the Gold Cup.

Plaid Maid was the second most prolific racehorse out of Tipperary Tartan (by Rarity), a flat-winning daughter of the Group 3 Cheshire Oaks runner-up Colourful (by Busted), but she had three siblings who earned blacktype, one of them a Cheltenham Festival hero.

The highest win total went to Raise A Storm (by Fourstars Allstar) who won a bumper, once over hurdles and twice on the flat before going to the USA where he became a dual blacktype scorer, achieving a career total of nine wins.

His older half-brother Destriero (by Ile De Bourbon) was lightly-raced but won the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on just his third start and later added the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown.

The third of Plaid Maid’s blacktype siblings is Storm Of Gold (by Glacial Storm), a dual hurdles and dual chase scorer whose placings included third in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury.

Coneygree is the best son of his late sire and he is the brightest star among the high-class horses that his family has produced in recent decades. As a Gold Cup hero who has only four chase starts under his belt one would imagine that there could still be more improvement to come from him, and that is an exciting thought.