WHATEVER the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last weekend lacked in quality, it more than made up for in drama, with Carlingford Lough written off in-running before bursting through to win by 12 lengths.

Valseur Lido looked all over the winner and went long odds-on approaching the last, only to unseat Ruby Walsh shortly after it, though Carlingford Lough was closing in so quickly by that point that he might well have prevailed anyway.