It was supposed to be all about AP McCoy — the biggest name in jump racing on his final day riding at the Cheltenham Festival. But instead, Gold Cup day 2015 shone a spotlight on a jockey in Nico de Boinville who has ridden fewer winners in his career than the 19-time champion rides in three months. Carlingford Lough, 40-year-old McCoy’s final Gold Cup mount, finished a fading ninth behind Coneygree, the novice chaser representing 10-horse trainer Mark Bradstock and his assistant, wife Sara. Tony McCoy's wife Chanelle (left) passionately willed him on to claim his third Gold Cup victory . But her relentless optimism soon turned to sheer sadness as her husband crossed the finish like in ninth place . Jockey Tony McCoy could not crown his final Cheltenham Festival with a Gold Cup win . McCoy did get a Gold Cup round of applause but it came as he walked around the paddock before the race. Looking down at his friend and colleague Ruby Walsh, who had yet to be united with his Gold Cup ride Djakadam, McCoy quipped: ‘They think I’ve won.’ No, AP, they were just hoping. Ultimately, McCoy did get on the winner’s podium but that was to present the trophy to the team behind Next Sensation, winner of the concluding AP McCoy Grand Annual Chase. Not surprisingly, the Michael Scudamore-trained Next Sensation, ridden by Scudamore’s brother Tom, had received a quieter reception than McCoy’s fourth-placed Ned Buntline. A crowd close to 70,000 had cheered and chanted his name as McCoy brought his mount down the famous walkway off the track. There were not many who had sneaked away to beat the traffic. And while they did not get the result they wanted, McCoy did at least break the habit of a lifetime for them. The man for whom winning is the only thing that matters, punched and waved the air. The defeat of Carlingford Lough, however, came as no surprise. After the Gold Cup, McCoy conceded he had anticipated his fate on arriving at the track when overnight rain was turning the ground soft. Tony McCoy and Ned Buntline gave it a good go on the 19-time champion jockey's final Festival ride . An emotional McCoy after his last ever ride at the Cheltenham Festival . The big screen at Cheltenham displayed a tribute to the retiring jockey . ‘I knew when I got here this morning that it was always going to be against him,’ McCoy said. ‘He is a horse who likes good ground and it was always going to be too much of a drag. ‘For a horse who is slow he has a little bit of a kick at the end but not when the ground is like that.’ McCoy then paid generous tribute to the winning team. ‘The Bradstocks have done a wonderful job,’ he said. ‘They have proved that if they get the horse, they can do the job. To win the Gold Cup with a novice is a fantastic performance.’ For the uninitiated, a novice is a horse that had not won in a particular category — hurdles or steeplechase — before the start of the season. Even if it does then win a race, the horse remains a novice until the end of that season. Animals who record their first win in March or April may still contest novice events until October 31. As for McCoy, it was just one of those days as he failed to add to Thursday’s Ryanair Chase victory on Uxizandre, who goes down as his 31st and final Festival victory. Hargam, rated one of his best chances of the week but another wrong-footed by the rain, swung for home with a chance in the Triumph Hurdle but finished third behind Nicky Henderson stablemates Peace And Co and Top Notch. McCoy was presented with a photo album of his Cheltenham career after his final fling at the Festival . McCoy, in the middle of the picture, walks out of the Cheltenham weighing room for the last time . Strongly-backed Princely Conn was staying on when badly hampered and slipped back to 13th in the County Hurdle while Fletchers Flyer, McCoy’s mount in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, was a non-runner. And just when McCoy wanted the racing gods to smile on him, they frowned instead as Ned Buntline was hindered by a faller four out. McCoy said: ‘All through the week people have been amazing and I appreciate it. I have always tried to look forward but now I am going to have to look backwards as I have nothing to look forward to.’ Five rides at Uttoxeter this afternoon, including the favourite in the Midlands National, will be on his mind this morning but his admiration for Coneygree and his team was well deserved. The 7-1 shot was in front at the first fence and never headed in a display of controlled jumping at speed that no rival could live with. Five of the 16 starters were pulled up, including 2013 winner Bobs Worth and last year’s victor Lord Windermere, who started at the back and never looked like defending his title. Last year’s runner-up On His Own was Coneygree’s closest pursuer for most of the race but faded to fourth. One by one they cracked as Coneygree saw off Djakadam and Road To Riches with the equine equivalent of a McCoy-type performance.
AP McCoy's final Gold Cup mount, Carlingford Lough, finished ninth . Jockey finished fourth in concluding AP McCoy Grand Annual Chase . McCoy presented trophy to the team behind winner Next Sensation .