Fabulous five for McCoy It was not a day for fainthearts as Martin Pipe and Tony McCoy virtually swept the board at an Ascot meeting which was under threat from the elements until the last minute. An overnight frost failed to clear as quickly as track officials had hoped and it was not until four official inspections had taken place that the Christmas meeting was given the go-ahead. The ball started rolling in the Glenmore Investments Novices` Hurdle, in which a quartet of late withdrawals (three on account of the ground) left just three runners to go to post. But in the event there was still an exciting finish, with odds-on favourite Tarxien having to work hard for champion jockey Tony McCoy to hold off Laveron by two and a half lengths. And there was an equally exciting finish to the Cantor Sport Handicap Chase as Wahiba Sands (9-4) battled past 15-8 favourite Get Real to land the spoils. The winner looked in trouble turning for home but Redemption made a bad error at the second-last fence when travelling well and McCoy stoked the winner up to score by three-quarters of a length.'It wasn`t a very fast pace so he has done well to get there,' said Pipe. 'I thought Get Real was a good thing so it was a terrific effort. He put in a couple of really good jumps in the straight and battled all the way to the line. 'He has been entered for the Victor Chandler but that is bound to be a very hot race. The Champion Chase is a possibility but it`s a long way away.' The most valuable win for the pair came when Shooting Light galloped away with the Tote Silver Cup. The enigmatic eight-year-old, who won the Thomas Pink Gold Cup on his previous start, has become a real moneyspinner for connections since his transfer to Pipe`s stable at the beginning of the season. Having never won two races in succession until the start of this campaign, he has now rattled up a hat-trick and what`s more, seems to be still improving. Shooting Light`s jumping, which had looked less than polished up until today, was virtually flawless and certainly helped him land this contest. The 5-2 favourite finished 11 lengths clear of Siberian Gale with You`re Agoodun plodding on for third. Seebald put the seal on the day for the pairing when winning the Cantor Sport Novices` Chase. The six-year-old, owned by footballers Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, became Coral`s new 7-1 favourite for the Arkle Challenge Trophy after he impressively dispatched Returning by 17 lengths. McCoy completed a near 127-1 five-timer when the Henrietta Knight-trained Alvino (9-4) ran out a comfortable winner of the Brunswick National Hunt Flat race. The racecourse presented McCoy with a bottle of champagne to mark his achievement. His sole ride which failed to win was well-backed favourite Westender, who could only finish eighth behind 7-1 shot Marble Arch in the inauguralrunning of the #100,000 Ladbroke Handicap Hurdle. The win was the biggest of trainer Hughie Morrison`s career and the East Ilsley handler was soon planning a celebration. 'I`ll just have to make sure I`m up in time to make the entries for Boxing Day tomorrow morning,' he smiled. The five-year-old, who is improving rapidly, came through with his characteristic late surge under Norman Williamson to catch Fait Le Jojo and score by three-quarters of a length. 'Until he started winning, he had been a hell of a disappointment to me,' said Morrison. 'We knew he had the talent but he wasn`t performing on the track. He is a very clever horse, a typical son of Rock Hopper, who has great talent. 'He`s in the Tote Gold Trophy and we`ll put him in the Champion Hurdle, I guess that`s his spring target. This was a class race and he`s obviously improving.' Fait Le Jojo`s trainer Philip Hobbs was left lamenting a near-miss. He said: 'I thought we might have nicked it. The jockey (Wilson Renwick) rode exactly to orders.' Unfortunately for him, Renwick`s efforts earned him a one-day ban for using the whip with excessive force. But the day belonged to McCoy, whose heroics in the saddle left him on the 192-winner mark for the season.
