Lineman Touches Down For Punters And McCoy

Tony McCoy may have had to settle for just one Cheltenham Festival winner but his unrivalled persistence ensured he received a hearty cheer from the faithful after Wichita Lineman secured a 12-length verdict in the Brit Insurance Novices' Hurdle.

The JP McManus-owned runner was sent off the well-supported 11-8 favourite but looked an extremely unlikely winner under vigorous driving as the field moved down the back straight for the final time.

Black Harry and Ruby Walsh poured on the pressure up front but Wichita Lineman finally found his stride and had just taken over when Black Harry crashed out at the last.

Air Force One was sent off at 25-1 but plugged on for second, six lengths clear of 100-1 shot Itsa Legend.

Winning trainer Jonjo O'Neill said: 'He was our banker here and he's done his job ? it's grand.

'He'll go over fences at some point but it's possible we'll keep him hurdling next year.'

Wichita Lineman was quoted at 10-1 with Stan James for the 2008 World Hurdle,

in which he could potentially clash with stablemate Black Jack Ketchum.

'If that happened I wouldn't mind which one of them won!' O'Neill added.

The Jackdaws Castle maestro sent out Exotic Dancer to finish second in the totesport Gold Cup before cheering home Drombeag in the Christie's Foxhunter Chase.

Sent off at 20-1, the gelding, also running in the McManus colours, made his first start for 324 days a winning one, much to the relief of the bookmaking contingent.

Given a positive ride by JT McNamara, Drombeag showed plenty of guts to fend off 2-1 favourite and 2006 winner Whyso Mayo after that rival briefly took over in the home straight.

When asked if the half-length victory had been expected, O'Neill said: 'No! I can hardly talk.

'He wants good ground really and he ran in this last year.

'He then lost his form a bit and he hadn't run this year but he's been hunting and messing about at home. He could go to Liverpool.'

Hasty Prince then looked set to put the icing on the cake for O'Neill and McManus when charging to the front on the run to the final fence in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase.

But the Paul Nicholls-trained Andreas recovered from a penultimate-fence blunder to power clear and score by three lengths at odds of 12-1.

Ground Ball, yet another owned by McManus, was a further four lengths away in third, while Ursis took fourth.

'This horse has always threatened to win one like this and he's deserved it,' said a delighted Nicholls, still on a high after Kauto Star's triumph in the Gold Cup.

The victory gave Robert Thornton his fourth victory of the Festival to wrap up the leading jockeys' competition.

'To be fair this is the first time Andreas has had his ground for a while and Choc (Thornton) gave him a great ride. He jumped well today and that was brilliant,' Nicholls added.

Pedrobob later came with a wet sail to win the concluding Vincent O'Brien County Handicap Hurdle.

Ouninpohja looked set to score before Philip Carberry unleashed a telling burst aboard the Tony Mullins-trained 12-1 winner.

'Unbelievably, in the last couple of days we thought he'd improved again,' said the winning handler, who was celebrating his first winner at the meeting.

'I was so disappointed on Wednesday after Aranleigh got beat (in the Bumper) because I think he is a real champion, but that was great.'

(C) PA Sport