For Charlie McCarthy, for Michael O'Sullivan, for Cork, Kopek Des Bordes lands Cheltenham glory
Kopek Des Bordes ridden by Paul Townend after winning the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle on day one of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Charlie McCarthy struggled to put into words what it meant to him after Kopek Des Bordes justified odds-on favouritism in the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the Festival opener named in memory of the recently deceased rider, who was from just over the road from the winning owner.
And with Midleton man Paul Townend, who, along with all of his colleagues in the weighroom, was wearing a Cork-flag armband, there was an unmistakably poignant and fitting Rebel feel as the favourite galloped to success.
Fermoy businessman McCarthy, who recently got the all clear from kidney cancer, realised a dream as he and his family watched the Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old coast through the race, just as he had done the preliminaries, which were a pre-race concern for the inexperienced gelding.
The race itself could not have gone much more smoothly for the 4-6 favourite, as Workahead set a strong early tempo, and Romeo Coolio took over when that one began to backtrack four from home.
Townend later suggested he would have liked the latter to take him further into the race, but so well was Kopek Des Bordes going, he had little choice but to take up the running on the turn for home.
The patiently ridden William Munny, who carried the colours which O’Sullivan donned when winning this race aboard Marine Nationale in 2023, mounted a strong challenge, and Kopek Des Bordes momentarily opened the door to him by faltering at the back of the last.
But soon back on an even keel and lifted by the roar from the stands, he strode out purposefully all the way to the winning line, where Townend allowed himself only a subdued and relieved show of emotion. William Munny ran his heart out to finish just a length and three-quarters behind the winner, the pair nicely clear of Romeo Coolio.
“I’m on cloud nine — is there a bigger cloud to be on?” said McCarthy. “I just can’t get over it! Here with my sons, to win at Cheltenham and to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle after everything I’ve been through is a dream come true — and the dream is not finished yet.
“I can’t describe it, can’t describe it, specially with Michael O’Sullivan being from the same area of Cork.
“To be fair about it, it’s something you can’t feel, or you can’t even realise what you’ve achieved. Michael is loved. There was a lovely picture of him before the race, up on the big screen, and I just think I winning it is lovely for Cork and the people of Cork, that his own county man could do it, and bring it home to county Cork.
“I said to Eugene (O’Sullivan, Michael’s uncle): ‘I’d love to win it for Michael,’ and he said: ‘I’d love you to win it for you’.”
Willie Mullins, for whom it was a 104th Festival winner, said: “It’s wonderful. We sent a good team to try and win it, so I’m delighted we did. He looks to be some sort of a horse. The team of horses I had there, any year I’d say they’d be good enough to try and go close in that race, and they were spread out like Brown’s cows behind the first two.
“I think a faster pace suits his jumping better. He is like a chaser, but should he do that or stay over hurdles? I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll probably have a go over fences at the end of the season and see what he’s like, and if Paul is happy to go chasing with him.
“It’s great that Michael O’Sullivan’s brother, Alan, is here.”
Townend, a close colleague of O’Sullivan, who had hist final graded success for the Willie Mullins team, on New Year’s Day, paid tribute to his late friend, saying: “He was a big part of our team. He lived locally to me and was a Cork man as well.
“He is in everyone’s thoughts every day. We can just count ourselves very lucky that we did know him for the short time that we did. We were very lucky to have known such an incredible young man.”
Barry Connell, to whom O’Sullivan had spent time as retained rider, was delighted with William Munny’s run, but also admitted to feeling the emotion of the day.
“This horse has a similar level of ability to Marine Nationale, but Marine is a chilled out dude in that he is very relaxed and he doesn’t pull.
“In fairness to this horse, he didn’t get worked up beforehand. He has grown up and he has settled today. I think the last race made a man of him.
“I would say that is one of the best novice hurdles we have had run around Cheltenham in a long time. I think the first two were miles clear of the rest, so we were delighted.
“The whole thing today is very poignant. This whole place is emotional on an ordinary day, but when you have something like this after the tragedy that happened to Michael, who was so closely associated with our yard, it is very raw.
“Sean (Flanagan, jockey of William Munny) said he thought he had a man pushing him down the hill and that he might get the winner going up the hill, but it wasn’t quite to be.”
