Category: Horses

How many horses with colours in their names have won the Grand National?

The Grand National may be less of a lottery than was once the case, but many once-a-year punters still rely on horses with significant or topical names, rather than the formbook, in their search for a winner. In many parts of the world, colours such as gold, silver and red are commonly associated with good fortune, wealth and prosperity, so it is no surprise that many racehorses have one or other of these colours in their names. As far as the Grand National is concerned, in 173 runnings so far, a total of 10 colourfully-named horses have graced the hallowed winners’ enclosure at Aintree.

‘Red’ has been far and away the most successful colour, with five winners, including the most successful National horse of all time, Red Rum, in 1973, 1974 and 1977. The other ‘Red’ winners were Red Alligator in 1968 and Red Marauder in 2001. ‘Silver’ is next best with three winners, namely Ascetic’s Silver in 1906, Nicolaus Silver in 1961 and Silver Birch in 2007. ‘Gold’ makes just one appearance on the roll of honour, but the 1934 winner Golden Miller remains the only horse in history to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season. Interestingly, the only Grand National winner with a colour other than red, silver or gold in its name was Royal Tan who, in 1954, was the second of three consecutive winners for Vincent O’Brien.

Which was the first British-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup?

Billed as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is a handicap run over 3,200 metres, or approximately two miles, at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria on the first Tuesday in November each year. Worth A$8 million, or £4.3 million, in prize money, it is, unquestionably, the most famous horse race run in Australia.

The first horse trained in the Northern Hemisphere to win the Melbourne Cup was Vintage Crop, trained by Dermot Weld at The Curragh, Co. Kildare, in 1993. Vintage Crop tried, and failed, to win the race again in 1994 and 1995, but Weld did so in 2002, courtesy of Media Puzzle.

However, the first horse trained in mainland Britain to win the Melbourne Cup was Cross Counter, a 3-year-old owned by Godolphin and sent out from its Moulton Paddocks yard by trainer Charlie Appleby in 2018. Patiently ridden by Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy, who was winning his third Melbourne Cup, Cross Counter produced a strong run in the final furlong and a half to win, readily, by a length.

In so doing, he led home a 1-2-3 for British-trained horses, with Marmello, trained by Hughie Morrison, in second place and A Prince Of Arran, trained by Charlie Fellowes, in third, a further 2 lengths away. In an eventful race, Hugh Bowman, jockey of Marmelo, received a lengthy ban for various infringements, while five other jockeys, including McEvoy, were fined for excessive use of the whip.

 

What happens to racehorses when they retire?

What happens to racehorses when they retire depends on a variety of factors, including breeding potential, age, physical soundness and temperament. Horses that are capable of breeding and have potential to become successful stallions or broodmares, by virtue of their pedigree or racecourse performance, or both, are often retired to stud. Of course, horses who have been castrated, or gelded , particularly National Hunt horses, who also race for much longer than their Flat counterparts, have no such option.

The ‘romantic’ notion of a racehorse being turned out in a field to enjoy its retirement may be appropriate if the horse is no longer fit for work but, otherwise, thoroughbred racehorses are best suited to an active life, even in retirement. This could simply be as a trainer’s hack, but there are numerous possibilities for alternative careers. With expert care and attention, former racehorses can be retrained as show jumpers, dressage, eventing or polo horses, thereby helping them to avoid physical and temperamental problems in later life. Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), which is funded, in part, by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), is the official charity for the welfare of retired racehorses and supports five rehabilitation centres across the country.

How many mares have won the Champion Hurdle?

The race now acknowledged as the two-mile hurdling championship, the Champion Hurdle, was established in 1927 and, in 91 runnings since, has been won on six occasions by six different mares. African Sister, ridden by Keith Piggott, father of Lester, was the first to strike a blow for the fairer sex, in the last Champion Hurdle to be run before the outbreak of World War II, in 1939.

However, it would be another 45 years before Dawn Run – who would later make history by becoming the only horse to complete the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup double – carried Jonjo O’Neill to victory for Paddy Mullins, father of Willie, in 1984. A decade later, Flakey Dove, trained by Richard Price and ridden by Mark Dwyer, added her name to the roll of honour, but there was another lengthy hiatus before the arrival of the next winning mare.

Nevertheless, in 2016, Willie Mullins emulated his father by winning the Champion Hurdle with Annie Power and, in the style of ‘London buses’, her victory was quickly followed by those of Epatante in 2020 and Honeysuckle in 2021. Indeed, in recent years, the dominance of the likes of Epatante and Honeysuckle in the two-mile hurdling division has led some observers to call for the abolition of the 7lb weight-for-sex allowance that mares currently receive from their male counterparts in ‘championship’ races, such as the Champion Hurdle. Proponents of the move argue, with some justification, that the result of such races should be determined on merit alone, regardless of the sex of the participants.

 

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