Baracouda makes a mistake at the last.

By

Baracouda maintained his marvellous run as the punters' pal as he emerged from the heat of battle with a fourth victory in the Telectronics Systems Long Walk Hurdle on Saturday.

The race, held for the first time at Windsor as a consequence of the redevelopment of Ascot, produced a dramatic finish as Baracouda survived a slip and stumble at the final flight which briefly seemed to have cost him success as Crystal D'Ainay drew back alongside.

However, the 8-13 favourite enhanced his already legendary status with Britain's punters as he rallied to win by three-quarters of a length, claiming a 15th victory from his last 17 starts.

Rule Supreme, seemingly beaten at the last, absolutely flew in the final stages to finish third, beaten only a short head for second.

And a few strides after the winning post he was in front of both the winner and runner-up, leaving connections wondering what might have been.

Before the race, trainer Francois Doumen's greatest fear was of a tactical battle and a muddling pace.

But although the Frenchman's worries proved entirely justified on both counts, the battle between his horse and Crystal D'Ainay provided a thrilling spectacle.

Coming to the second-last flight both Tony McCoy and Robert Thornton were cruising along and enjoying a private game of cat and mouse as each tried to play his best hand last.

Baracouda appeared to have just gained the upper hand before his final-flight blip opened the race back up again.

Thornton deserves considerable credit for trying to take the race to the favourite - it is a brave man who tries to outride McCoy in a tactical affair.

But McCoy was inclined to think afterwards that he always had the race in safe-keeping.

"I rode the race to beat Crystal D'Ainay. Robert thought he could win by slowing it up, but Baracouda is not a slow horse," he said.

"The stumble at the last could have beaten any horse, but he is something else.

"I followed him round in the Long Walk for three years and somehow managed to beat him once, but it's a lot more enjoyable riding him than following in behind."

Not everybody agreed that McCoy had given the winner a perfect ride, but an emotional Doumen would not be drawn on the matter publicly despite being involved in a lengthy 'tete-a-tete' with his jockey after the presentation ceremony.

"It is difficult to be humble with a horse like Baracouda - he is just the best," said Doumen.

"He hung on well from the last. The public is very near the track here and he is very nervous about the public. I don't think that helped him.

"He is what he is, and he can idle, but he's so good that we forgive him. He is amazing at home and I believe he is stronger than ever.

"I have a tendency to believe that you should stick to a winning programme and the aim - once again - will be the Stayers' (now Ladbrokes World) Hurdle."

Crystal D'Ainay's trainer Alan King was far from despondent, despite only narrowly missing out.

"We gave it a bash and he's run brilliantly," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen a race like that before, with the big two taking a pull so close to the finish.

"We had a few possible plans going into the race but we had agreed that what we didn't want to do was be in front before Baracouda.

"He's picked up a little nick to his off-fore, but it should be fine.

"His next race should be Cheltenham at the end of January, and hopefully Baracouda won't come over so he can give us a chance to win one. After that we will go straight for the Stayers' Hurdle.

"There is a possibility he could go to Kempton in between, but I'm not sure about that."

Willie Mullins is planning to take on the first two again at the Cheltenham Festival next March with Rule Supreme.

He said: "He finished stronger than anything - he was just a little untidy jumping out of that ground.

"I imagine we will be looking at the Stayers' Hurdle for him.

"He's in two or three races over Christmas and if he was any other horse then I wouldn't consider it after he had such a hard race today. But he is the toughest horse I have ever trained, so we'll have to see how he is."

Ladbrokes and Coral are best-priced about Baracouda's prospects for the Festival race, both firms keeping him unchanged at 7-4.

Cashmans offer both the runner-up and third at 10-1 - prices they may have to cut soon with Ladbrokes as short as 7-2 about Crystal D'Ainay and 6-1 over Rule Supreme.

Crystal D'Ainay's efforts pushed him into the lead in the BHB Order Of Merit standings with 40 points and he was cut from 20-1 to 10-1 by Stan James.