Not that it was a one-off day of Cheltenham glory for either of them, Davy Lad having given O'Toole his first Festival winner two years earlier when taking the Sun Alliance Novice Hurdle. And in its own way the latter was as significant a success as the Gold Cup victory would be, for 1975 was, remarks O'Toole, "the moment that started the ball rolling for me". It began rolling and for a long time it didn't stop; for years afterwards O'Toole averaged a Festival winner a year, many of them the medium of substantial gambles.

Chinrullah, Parkhill, Mac's Chariot, Bit Of A Jig: in the late 1970s, the Maddenstown trainer was the ultimate standing Irish dish at the meeting.

Bought by O'Toole for 6,500 guineas - "not a bad price in those days, " he says with some pride - at the old Goffs in Ballsbridge, Davy Lad quickly showed his worth by winning two bumpers as a four-year-old and five hurdles before his first tilt at Cheltenham. His second, in the 1976 Sun Alliance Novice Chase, might also have resulted in success but didn't. "It was probably my fault he got beaten. We tried him in blinkers. Unfortunately there was a false start and he ran too freely." In the event, Davy Lad finished third. The ultimate triumph, however, was only 12 months away.

The class horse of the 1977 Gold Cup was the Fred Winter-trained Lanzarote, the previous season's Champion Hurdler, unbeaten in his three outings over fences and attempting a feat that would remain unaccomplished until Dawn Run made history nine years later. "His only problem on the day will be the fences, " John Francome predicted. "If he jumps well he'll hack up."

Also in the 13-strong field were the 11/4 favourite Bannow Rambler, the Thyestes Chase winner and hope of Wexford, the frontrunning Tied Cottage under Tommy Carberry and the talented but erratic Fort Fox, ridden by Frank Berry. Typically for Cheltenham in the 1970s, the ground was bottomless, a factor that would suit the stayers in the field. And the 14/1 shot Davy Lad, despite possessing, in his trainer's words, "a mind of his own", was a stayer par excellence.

The race was turned on its head at the ninth fence when Lanzarote slipped on landing, breaking his near-hind leg, and brought down Bannow Rambler. Tied Cottage continued to cut out the running. Fort Devon departed six from home, leaving Bob Turnell's Summerville to challenge the leader and Davy Lad apparently struggling behind them, an improbablelooking winner. But Summerville broke down after jumping the second-last in the lead and now Davy Lad, finally responding to Dessie Hughes's persistent urgings, ranged up, jumped the last brilliantly and ran on to win by six lengths from Tied Cottage.

In retrospect, says O'Toole, who had the additional pleasure of having taken 50/1 about Davy Lad ante-post with Sean Graham, the way the Gold Cup was run proved ideal for him. "He was the sort of horse you couldn't bustle up into the lead early on.

Dessie didn't give him just a nice ride, he gave him a great ride. Davy Lad needed every assistance from the saddle that day. Dessie gave him it."

Like many a Gold Cup winner, Davy Lad would not return to defend his crown.

He broke down the following year and was retired, eventually being put down in 1984 due to arthritis. If his trainer has one regret it's that the horse "never really received the credit he deserved. He beat Tied Cottage, and Tied Cottage went on to win the Gold Cup and the Irish Grand National."

For O'Toole, one unexpected byproduct of 1977 was an annual invitation to a horsey lunch with the Queen Mother. "We were always well entertained." Apropos of the extent to which the old lady may indeed have been the world's greatest living advertisement for the benefits of gin, O'Toole remains properly silent.

Deciding it was a young man's game, he retired five years ago, but he still goes racing and he still has opinions. He was airing some of them at a Betdaq pre-Cheltenham gig in London on Thursday night. In the likely event you weren't there, here's a considered soundbite.

"You can't follow Irish horses at Cheltenham, just like you can't follow, say, all of Paul Nicholls's horses. Follow horses blindly and you'll lose your money. You've got to have an opinion. The smaller the number of bets you have this week, the better off you'll be. When it comes to Cheltenham we're all inclined to get carried away, bet more often and bet bigger. But we shouldn't."

Wise words from a man who knows.