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The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Istabraq is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who was most famous for his hurdling. He won the Champion Hurdle on three occasions. He was trained by Aidan O'Brien and owned by John Patrick McManus. Jockey Charlie Swan rode him in all of his 29 races over jumps.
Michael "Mouse" Morris, formally the Hon. Michael Morris, is an Irish racehorse trainer and former amateur and professional jockey. As a trainer, he has won the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and has won the Irish Grand National twice. In 2016, he won both the Grand National and Irish Grand National double.
Hors La Loi III was a French-bred AQPS racehorse who won the 2002 Champion Hurdle. A dark bay gelding with a narrow blaze and white hind feet, he developed a reputation for being rather inconsistent, but was one of the most talented hurdlers of his era with a peak rating of 165.
Synchronised was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist long-distance steeplechaser, he was best known for his performances in the 2011–2012 National Hunt season, when he won the Grade I Lexus Chase in Ireland before winning Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on 17 March. He was euthanized after incurring a leg fracture in the Grand National on 14 April 2012.
Like-A-Butterfly was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who competed in National Hunt racing. Although she did not begin competing in public until she was seven years old she had a successful racing career, winning twelve of her seventeen races, including five at Grade I level. She was unbeaten in three National Hunt Flat races including the Champion INH Flat Race and her first five over hurdles including the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle and Supreme Novices' Hurdle. She won the Irish Champion Hurdle but missed the whole of the next season through injury. In her final season she competed in steeplechases and won three times including the Powers Gold Cup and the Mildmay Novices' Chase. After retiring from racing she produced five foals before dying of horse colic at the age of nineteen.
French Holly was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. During a racing career which lasted from February 1996 until October 1999 he won ten of his twenty races and was placed on six occasions. He won two of his six flat races before switching to hurdling in the autumn of 1997. He was unbeaten as a novice winning five races including the Tolworth Hurdle and Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle. In the following year he won the Christmas Hurdle but then sustained three consecutive defeats when matched against the reigning Champion Hurdler Istabraq. He was then sent to France where he defeated a strong field in the Prix La Barka before finishing fourth in the French Champion Hurdle. He won his first and only steeplechase in October 1999 but was killed in a training accident seven days later.
Landing Light was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. Originally trained on the flat in France he was later transferred to England where he excelled in hurdle races. In 2001 he was arguably the best hurdler in Britain, winning the Tote Gold Trophy, Championship Hurdle, Fighting Fifth Hurdle and Christmas Hurdle. He failed to reproduce his best form in subsequent National Hunt campaigns, but returned to the flat as an eight-year-old in 2003 and won the Cesarewitch Handicap on his final racecourse appearance.
Jezki is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. After showing promise in National Hunt Flat races he won five times as a novice hurdler in the 2012/2013 season, with his victories including the Fishery Lane Hurdle, Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, Future Champions Novice Hurdle and Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following season he won the WKD Hurdle and the Hatton's Grace Hurdle before taking the 2014 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse and following up with a win in the Racing Post Champion Hurdle. In the following season he was beaten in his first three races by Hurricane Fly and finished fourth to Faugheen in the Champion Hurdle before winning the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles and defeating Hurricane Fly in the World Series Hurdle.
More Of That is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. After winning his only race as a novice he won two handicaps and the Grade II Relkeel Hurdle before taking the Grade I World Hurdle at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival.
The 2014 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 11 March 2014. It was the 84th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2010 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 16 March 2010. It was the 80th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2008 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 11 March 2008. It was the 78th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2006 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 14 March 2006. It was the 76th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2002 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 12 March 2002. It was the 72nd running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2000 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 14 March 2000. It was the 71st running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 1998 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 17 March 1998. It was the 69th running of the Champion Hurdle.
Bacchanal was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. He was lightly-raced, winning ten of his twenty races between January 1999 and January 2003. As a novice hurdler he won two of his four races and in the following season he won the Gerry Feilden Hurdle before recording his biggest win in the Stayers' Hurdle. He later developed into a top class steeplechaser, winning the Feltham Novices' Chase, Reynoldstown Novices' Chase and Aon Chase and twice finishing third in the King George VI Chase. He returned to hurdles to win the Long Distance Hurdle in 2002, but was killed in a fall at Cheltenham in January 2003.
Limestone Lad is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed mainly in National Hunt racing. Bred, owned and trained by a farming family in rural Ireland he was offered for sale as three-year-old but was rejected after failing a medical examination. His early racing career was unremarkable but he made steady improvement and eventually retired with a record of thirty-five wins and nineteen places from sixty-five races. He was best known for his durability and his performances in long-distance hurdle races and usually raced from the front.
Buveur d'Air is a retired French-bred British-trained AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning twice in his native France he moved to England and won the Top Novices' Hurdle in 2016. In the following season he won two steeplechases before reverting to hurdle races to win the Contenders Hurdle and then recording his biggest success in the Champion Hurdle. In the 2017–18 season he was unbeaten, winning the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Christmas Hurdle and a second Champion Hurdle, so becoming the second horse, after Kribensis, to win the Triple Crown of Hurdling. The 2018-19 season saw him win both the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Contenders Hurdle for the second time. In November 2019 he sustained a freak injury in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and did not race for the rest of the season.
References
- 1 2 "Full Result 3.15 Cheltenham | 16 March 1999 | Racing Post". Racing Post. 16 March 1999. Retrieved 18 March 2018.