McCoy sees Ryanair defence as perfect fit for Fact To File
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Fri 6 Mar 2026
Sir Anthony McCoy is envisaging Fact To File defending his Ryanair Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival, rather than taking his place in what the 20-time champion jockey described as the “most open Gold Cup” he has seen in years.
Long-time number one rider to Fact To File’s owner JP McManus and still a key part of the green-and-gold team, McCoy admitted he would be pushing against supplementing the impressive Irish Gold Cup winner for the Festival blue riband given his standout claims in a race he won comprehensively 12 months ago.
Speaking ahead of William Hill’s Cheltenham Preview Night on Thursday, McCoy said: “I’d say he will run in the Ryanair. JP will make that decision, but with the ground going as it is, I would think it might be the Ryanair.
“It’s probably the most open Gold Cup you’ll see in a long while and I wouldn’t be surprised if seven or eight of them won it. Fact To File would probably start favourite for the Gold Cup, but he would be long odds-on in the Ryanair. I’m not saying he’ll definitely win it, but he’ll be a short price.
“If I was riding I would like him to be in the Ryanair and then take my chance and hope I’d pick the right one in the Gold Cup. I’d like to have a short-priced one on my side in the Ryanair.
“He could win a Cheltenham Gold Cup and it’s of course the best race, but it’s also very open and I don’t think the Ryanair would be very open if he runs in it.”
On the Gold Cup itself, McCoy – who landed the feature aboard Mr Mulligan in 1997 and then for McManus with Synchronised in 2012 – added: “I don’t know when the last Gold Cup was when you could go through the field and not many of them winning would shock you.
“I think it’s going to be a brilliant spectacle and the best Gold Cup there has been in years.”
Barry Geraghty succeeded McCoy in the green-and-gold hot seat and he agreed with his predecessor that ultimately the Ryanair could prove the logical place for Fact To File to seek a third-successive Festival victory.
Geraghty said: “You just wonder if his racing style, what he showed at Leopardstown and what he worked really well there, would lend itself to seeing out the trip in the Gold Cup.
“He was so impressive in the Ryanair last year and I suppose the fact Spillane’s Tower is there in the Gold Cup and it also sounds like there is green shoots with Inothewayurthinkin, it perhaps makes sense to lean towards the Ryanair.
“Racing fans would love to see him in the Gold Cup, (but) if you’ve got two contenders for the race already and this lad who has already been so impressive in a Ryanair, (why) do you change?
“We’ve seen lots of Gold Cup contenders jump the last and then hit a wall, Florida Pearl and One Man, and with the pace of the race and with it being as competitive as it is, you’re going to be guaranteed an end-to-end gallop. There’ll be no hiding place.”
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