The BetBright Cup, celebrating the intense competition between Great Britain and Ireland at The Festival, finishes with a draw as both countries have 14 winners to their credit at the end of four fantastic days’ racing.
Robert “Choc” Thornton, who captained the British team, said with a smile: “We’ve retained the BetBright Cup – it’s a draw, but just like happens with the Ashes, the BetBright Cup stays in Britain!
“The highlight was Sprinter Sacre’s Bet Way Queen Mother Champion Chase win – that was a real ‘wow’ moment – and Thistlecrack in the Ryanair World Hurdle. And Altior beating Min in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle meant the Brits got off to a flying start.
“The Irish fought back, but a draw is a great result.”
Hector Ó hEochagáin, captain of the Irish team, said: “We’ve come over here and we’ve had a magnificent week. Choc has scraped a draw by the skin of his teeth, and I have no complaints – we’ve taken the lion’s share of the big championship races, we’ve taken the big prize-money of the week and Choc has just skinned a draw. It’s probably the best result.
“Choc’s happy because he didn’t want to be the only losing British captain of the BetBright Cup!”