Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore sweep top honours at Jockey Club McCoy awards

Champion Hurdle heroine Honeysuckle added yet another top honour to her CV as she claimed Horse of the Season at the Jockey Club McCoy Awards on Thursday evening.

The annual night of celebrations, named after Sir Anthony McCoy and created to recognise the stars of the latest jumps season, held its fourth awards ceremony at Cheltenham, with 350 in attendance following last year's cancellation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Honeysuckle's award was the cherry on top of another unstoppable year for the mare, with the seven-year-old remaining unbeaten in 12 starts under Rachael Blackmore.

It was a memorable night for the jockey as she claimed Racing Ride of the Season for her historic Grand National success on Minella Times.

Blackmore said: "It still feels strange watching Aintree back now, but it's just incredible. The Grand National was an incredible day and I'm very thankful.

"Cheltenham is such a special place and even when you walk through here when there's nobody there it's such a special place to be. It'll be great to get people back and everyone who was here this year made it very special. There's no denying that Cheltenham is all about the atmosphere and it will be very special to be back."

Blackmore also partnered Allaho to his sensational 12-length romp in the Ryanair Chase, which earned him Horse Performance of the Season.

JP McManus, owner of National hero Minella Times, continued his reign at the top of jumps owner rankings as he claimed his fourth Leading Owner award for four or more horses.

McManus said: "There are some great memories there. It was a good season and I'm delighted. It was great to have a festival and it was great for the Irish. It was fantastic to have it and it’s great to be a part of it.

"I've watched Minella Times many times and every time I get a great kick out of it – it was great to see Rachael win the National."

The Irish owner has won the prize every year since the ceremony's inception in 2017 and was joined by previous winners Paul Nicholls, who took Leading Trainer of 40 or more horses, and Harry Skelton, who claimed his second Leading Professional Jockey Award.

Shishkin, Frodon and Bannixtown Glory were the other equine winners, with their respective titles decided on the number of wins at Jockey Club courses during the season.

The 2019 Leading Jockey winner Richard Johnson was presented with the Outstanding Contribution award.

Johnson said: "It's been a year of big change, but to be here tonight, just as jump racing gets back into gear, is great. This is a job I absolutely adored doing for a long time but you can’t do it forever and although it was a hard decision, it came at the right time.

"It's amazing to be here, most of the people in that room I've probably ridden for as owners or trainers or I've encountered on the racecourse, so I've plenty of happy memories and I feel really lucky to have been in that position."

Stable Person of the Year, created in 2018 to honour the behind-the-scenes efforts of stable staff, was award to Jaimie Duff, assistant trainer and travelling head girl for Lucinda Russell.

Full list of 2021 McCoy Award winners

Leading Owner (four or more horses) JP McManus
Leading Owner (three or fewer horses) Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason, John and Lisa Hales

Leading Trainer (40 or more horses) Paul Nicholls
Leading Trainer (39 or fewer horses) Stuart Edmunds

Leading Professional Jockey Harry Skelton
Leading Conditional Jockey Jack Tudor
Leading Amateur Jockey Harriet Tucker

Leading Hurdler Bannixtown Glory
Leading Novice Chaser Shishkin
Leading Chaser Frodon

Stable Person of The Year Jaimie Duff
Racing Ride of The Season Rachael Blackmore
Horse Performance of The Season Allaho
Horse of The Season Honeysuckle
Outstanding Contribution Richard Johnson

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