JP McNamara clinched the Argus Cup glory at rain-lashed Plumpton, then admitted life in the saddle did not get much tougher.

McNamara defied heavy going, driving rain and high winds to take the novices' chase on 7-1 shot Don't Tell Jr by a handsome margin of 17 lengths.

It was a finely judged ride by McNamara, who allowed Tom's Price to go 30 lengths clear in the first half of a gruelling three-and-a-quarter mile contest.

As the rest of the five-horse field, including Timmy Murphy on short-odds favourite Garruth, began to feel the pace, Don't Tell Jr reeled in the leader.

He hit the front going into the home straight and, other than a wobble over the final fence, never looked in any danger.

Owners' representative John Supple picked up the prestigious silverware from The Argus' advertising manager Marcus Naylor.

A mud-splattered McNamara admitted: "As you can imagine, it was very testing.

"You could nearly say it was unraceable but when the going is that heavy, if the jockeys take their time and go a sensible pace up front, you won't have a problem.

"The ground is very soft but if a horse does trip over, he is not inclined to injure himself as much as on firm ground."

Garruth got up on the line for third, but McNamara revealed the mid-race discussion with Murphy which effectively spelt the end of the favourite's challenge.

"I looked across and said 'Timmy, have we let this leader off too far?'.

"He said 'Well I'm not going to chase him' so I decided to just get into a rhythm and take it from there.

"All my horse does is stay galloping. He has just the one stride to him and he was able to keep that up for the full distance."

Champion jockey Tony McCoy also enjoyed success in the meeting sponsored by The Argus, coming through on odds-on French hopeful Jurancon II in the showcase handicap after outsiders Baltic Magic and Leggies Legacy had made most of the running.