THE biggest cheer of all went up when Philip Hobbs’s wonderful old servant Menorah, 9/4, still sprightly at 12, pulled clear in the Grade 2 bet365 Oaksey Chase, opening up by 10 lengths for Richard Johnson before settling for a margin of four and a half lengths over Traffic Fluide.

It was his fourth straight win in the race and it brought the house down.

“Menorah won the Supreme but I think small fields suit him best over fences and this is the one race that seems to suit him perfectly,” Hobbs said.

“He’s been phenomenal, an absolute pleasure to train and this is the right time to stop.”

Owners Grahame and Diana Whateley, the latter not the only one with tears in her eyes, reported that Menorah would spend the rest of his days on Johnson’s farm.

The 39-year-old Johnson partnered Menorah on 39 of his 43 starts.

JOHNSON IS CHAMPION AGAIN

It was a great for Dickie Johnson, who has found things relatively straightforward since AP McCoy’s retirement and retained his jockeys’ title with 188 winners, 44 ahead of the unsung but thoroughly deserving Brian Hughes.

Henderson was champion trainer, of course, netting around £300,000 more than Paul Nicholls, who sent out 17 more winners on 171. Nicholls had the satisfaction of seeing Harry Cobden raise the trophy for champion conditional rider on a tally of 60 wins.

JP McManus, whose horses were in blistering form on both sides of the Irish Sea, especially at the festival meetings, was easily top owner in Britain with 95 winners and a prize-money haul of some £2.5 million.