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Cheltenham Gold Cup and four time Grade 1 winner, A PLUS TARD has been retired
from racing.
Owned by Cheveley Park Stud and trained by Henry de Bromhead, A PLUS TARD first
burst on to the scene when running away with the Close Brothers Novices Handicap
Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2019. He went on to take the Grade 1 Savills Chase
at Leopardstown in 2020 in a thrilling finish, before also adding the 2021 Be/air Chase
to his resume with breathtaking 22 length victory. Undoubtedly, his finest hour came
in 2022, when he sprinted away up the Cheltenham hill to win the Gold Cup by an
emphatic 15 lengths, and beat previous Gold Cup winners Al Boum Photo and Minella
Indo.
Richard Thompson, Director of Cheveley Park Stud commented; ‘My father and I sat
down in early 2018 and agreed a plan to buy some National Hunt horses to be trained
in Ireland with the aim of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Just over four years later,
we achieved this objective when Rachael Blackmore rode A Plus Tard to victory in front
of 70,000 people at the first Cheltenham Festival post Covid. My father watched A Plus
Tard win the Savills Chase in a thrilling finish on television on December 28th 2020. He
died the very next day. It was the last horse race he ever watched. A Plus Tard was also
the first Cheltenham winner in the red, white and blue Cheveley Park Stud colours and
also Rachael Blackmore’s first winner at Cheltenham in the 2019 Listed Close Brothers
Novices Chase. Rachael rode him to 5 of his 6 victories and Darragh O’Keeffe rode him
in the other one. For all of the above reasons, A Plus Tard will always be a very special
horse in the history of my parents’ ownership of Cheveley Park Stud. A special thank
you to Henry de Bromhead and all the team at Knockeen and to Rachael too. To win
the Cheltenham Gold Cup is the Holy Grail of National Hunt racing and we will never
forget 18th March 2022’.
Trainer Henry de Bromhead said; ‘A Plus Tard was our first horse to train for Cheveley
Park Stud and the Thompson Family. He was bought from France by Alex Elliot and gave
us many memorable days, culminating in the 2022 Gold Cup. He was sublime that day,
not only visually impressive, but also one of the highest rated winners of The Gold Cup
in the last 30 years, as well as being one of the best horses we have ever had in our
yard. We were delighted when this very special horse won Cheveley Park Stud their
first Gold Cup.’
A PLUS TARD will now be let down and allowed to unwind at Knockeen, before
returning to Cheveley Park Stud to enjoy his retirement.