Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

IT takes a certain amount of nerve to hold your horse up in a 23-runner Kim Muir, with 22 fences to jump on soft ground on a J.P. McManus horse backed off the boards, but Derek O’Connor truly made it look easy on Inothewayurthinkin (13/8 favourite).

The Galway native secured the extended three-mile-two-furlong amateur riders’ handicap for the second time in five years for McManus, this time for trainer Gavin Cromwell, a first winner at this year’s Festival for the Meath man, but an eighth at Cheltenham this season.

An early mistake had O’Connor reverting to Plan B on the novice chaser, but he picked his way through the field and coming into the straight, he was clearly travelling best. He took it up from the brave Git Maker at the last and came readily clear to win by eight lengths.

“Derek is so cool, he’s just invaluable really,” said Cromwell. “The horse jumped the first big and awkward and just got shuffled back. I think they went quite hard and it probably played to his strengths then. It all went to plan.

“It’s brilliant. All the horses ran really well here last year and we had no winner. We had a great season, but to have a winner in Cheltenham caps the whole season. Some people say it’s not all about Cheltenham, but it is.”

Reflecting on the race, O’Connor said: “I wanted to jump off with the first bunch of horses, but he had a bit of stage fright, a bit of greenness, and he jumped poorly so we went to Plan B, we minded him and he started jumping really well.

“It’s an extended trip on heavy ground and at the end of the day we have to get to the line. I took a punt that the horse would pick up and he did.”

O’Connor is closely connected to McManus, not only through riding Festival winners, but also by training some of his younger stocks for point-to-points.

“Mr McManus is the best man I’ve ever met,” he said. “He’s so loyal. He loves winning and he’s so gracious in defeat as well. He never puts pressure on you, he accepts defeat very well. He’s an amazing man.”