Susannah and Rich Ricci became the first owners to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup in the same season at last week’s Cheltenham Festival.
The familiar pink and green silks have been attributed to a plethora of Cheltenham Festival winners in the past. The likes of Faugheen, Douvan, Annie Power and Douvan all won coveted prizes, but a Gold Cup had eluded the Ricci’s.
A winner at the festival is the pinnacle, but Rich Ricci has often been scorned for taking the ‘easy’ option. Speaking on Luck On Sunday on Racing TV, via Sporting Life, Ricci was asked as to whether there was a sense of satisfaction put putting them, in the right race.
“I don’t think we put them in the wrong races last year, I think we had our reasons,” said Ricci.
“People think we talk about this all the time. I can tell you that after the DRF I didn’t speak to Willie – other than him trying to sell me a horse! – about anything until the Saturday before Cheltenham week and, talking about Lossiemouth, I was really sanguine.
“She’s run over two miles all year, she had an uninterrupted prep; last year she had a horrible fall. She’s had a history of back trouble, so last year I thought we were acting in her best interests. This year we were the same.
“I think it was great that she won the Champion Hurdle, it’s always wonderful to win that race.”
“We’ve been chasing this for over 20 years” – Rich Ricci
Ricci bookended the meeting with an almighty Gold Cup performance from Gaelic Warrior. The son of Maxios produced one of the impressive efforts in the race, taking his festival form to 2211.
Riccii noted how he didn’t put any pressure on Mullins to run him, despite the long-awaited Gold Cup dream. “With Gaelic Warrior, I left it to Willie. I didn’t want to get in the way. I’ve always wanted to win the Gold Cup. I’d have liked to have run there even if Fact To File had run. But to win the two was incredible and I’m just very grateful.
“It’s really hard to win. We’ve been chasing this for over 20 years and to be able to finally do it is an amazing feeling. I always thought when we did do it, maybe that would be it, we’d get out of the game. But that’s not going to happen.”
Gaelic Warrior’s success was a form of coming full circle, penance for his 2022 Fred Winter defeat. However, racing fans may not be able to disassociate from such a memory yet. Ricci revealed: “We’ve got two full brothers to him and one is called Sparkling Wit, who hasn’t run yet. The other is unnamed and Joe wants to call him Onetwonine which would be a good name.