AP MCCOY WILL ride Carlingford Lough in his final Cheltenham Gold Cup.

McCoy, who previously won the festival showpiece on Mr Mulligan and Synchronised, is bidding for a third success before he retires at the end of the season.

The 19-time champion jockey partnered JP McManus’s nine-year-old to win the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown earlier this month, and he has chosen to stick with him for Cheltenham.

Carlingford Lough is currently a 10/1 shot for the Gold Cup with Silvianiaco Conti the market leader at odds of 10/3.

“Cheltenham this year will probably be a little emotional for me,” he wrote in his Festival blog.

But hopefully I will enjoy it more than I ever have as it will be the last time I will be riding there.

“The Festival is very special and I got an amazing reaction over in Ireland on Hennessy day when winning on Carlingford Lough.

“That was every emotional for me and Cheltenham will be very much the same – it will be my last time so I am going to try and enjoy it as I will never be there as a jockey again.”

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