30 years on: the day when the sky seemed the limit for Carvill's Hill

For those of a certain age it may come as a shock that the number of years since the victory of the Jim Dreaper-trained Carvill's Hill in the 1989 Vincent O'Brien Irish Gold Cup is now five longer than the gap between that day and Arkle's first Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964.

Memories of Arkle supplied part of the context on that February afternoon when the giant Carvill's Hill, a novice having only his fourth start over fences, powered up the Leopardstown straight for a 15-length win from Weather The Storm. Here was a new hero, a horse to restore the pride of Irish jump racing after a couple of lean years at Cheltenham, a new champion for the famous Dreaper yard.

Ken Morgan, who now presides over a thriving property management business, rode Carvill's Hill to his Leopardstown victory in the colours of Maeve McMorrow.