Champ's wonder horserace leaves McCoys senior and junior beaming with joy

Sir Anthony McCoy watched from the ITV presentation point and got extremely excited.

Archie McCoy, supremely smart in his Pinewood School uniform, watched with his mother and Zara Tindall, who both encouraged him to get extremely excited. He needed no encouraging.

Champ is named after McCoy senior and morally belongs to McCoy junior, although JP McManus seems happy to pay the bills. He also made sure the Cheltenham Festival's six-year-old first-time visitor came up to the victory podium after Champ's astonishing success in the RSA Chase.

Champ the wonder horse he may not yet be, but the wonderful horserace he pulled out of the fire by galloping past punch-drunk pair Minella Indo and Allaho will live long in the memory – especially the memory of one ecstatic little boy.

Sir Anthony McCoy is hugged by Nicky Henderson after Champ's thrilling successCredit: Patrick McCann

"It was very nice," said Archie. "I got really excited and I was jumping around. He is very good. He's my favourite."

Mother Chanelle McCoy said: "Archie really adores the horse. He has followed him for the last two years and accumulated quite a few trophies. When he fell on New Year's Day he was so relieved he got up and was fine, so it was brilliant for him to come back today and experience Champ winning.

"It was so exciting. Watching the end of the race reminded me a lot of Wichita Lineman."

The man who rode Wichita Lineman to that unforgettable festival triumph in 2009 had been bullish about Champ in the Racing Post's RSA preview and was recorded by ITV roaring the new last-gasp hero home.

"That was amazing, brilliant and what he was bought to do," said McCoy. "Staying has always been his forte. I always thought the further he went the better he would be.

"We hoped he would one day turn up at the Cheltenham Festival and win. He got beat last year but not this time."

Read more RSA fallout:

Astonishing Champ posts miraculous RSA victory after hitting 399-1 in running

Reliving the RSA: how Champ defied reality to surge past Minella Indo and Allaho

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