Rupert "Ruby" Walsh is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Widely regarded as one of the greatest National Hunt jockeys of all time, Walsh is the third most prolific winner in British and Irish jump racing history behind only Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson.
Kauto Star was a French-bred National Hunt champion thoroughbred racehorse trained by Paul Nicholls in Somerset and owned by Clive Smith. He was known for his versatility and longevity, being the only horse ever to be top rated over 2 miles, 2.5 miles and 3 miles in the same season. He is also the first horse ever to win a Grade 1 race in six consecutive seasons, which he extended to seven. His Racing Post rating of 192 is the highest ever awarded to a National Hunt horse since those ratings began in 1987. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009, becoming the first horse to regain the cup. In 2009, he beat Denman by thirteen lengths, after losing to the same horse by seven lengths the previous year. Kauto Star tried for three more years to win the race again, but the best placing he could achieve was third in 2011. He also won the King George VI Chase a record five times. Kauto Star was one of the most successful steeplechasers of any era: he finished his career with a National Hunt record of £3,775,883 in earnings, £2,375,883 of which was winner's prize money, a £1,000,000 bonus for the completion of the 2006/2007 Stayers Chase Triple Crown and a £400,000 reward for heading the BHA Table of Merit in the 2006/2007 season.
Beef Or Salmon is a multiple Grade 1 winning National Hunt racehorse. He was trained in Ireland by Michael Hourigan and owned by B J Craig And Dan McLarnon. He was most famous for defeating three Cheltenham Gold Cup winners in Best Mate, Kicking King, and War of Attrition and also for his defeat of the 2005 Grand National winner, Hedgehunter.
Hurricane Fly is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle races when under the care of trainer Willie Mullins at Closutton in County Carlow in Ireland. He is a dual winner of the Champion Hurdle and previously held the world record for most Grade 1 races won by any racehorse until overtaken by Winx in 2019. Originally bred to be a flat racer, the gelding began his racing career in France where he had moderate success, winning twice in ten races. At the end of 2007 he was sold and transferred to Ireland where he began to compete in National Hunt events. On 15 March 2011, Hurricane Fly ridden by Ruby Walsh won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Imperial Call was an Irish racehorse. He was a specialist steeplechaser who ran thirty-two times and won sixteen races under National Hunt rules. After showing promise as a hurdler and novice chaser, Imperial Call emerged as a top-class jumper with a win in the Hennessy Gold Cup in February 1996. A month later, he became the first Irish-trained horse for ten years to win Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. His subsequent career was disrupted by injury problems but he won further major races including the Punchestown Chase in 1998 and the Punchestown Gold Cup in 1999. Unlike most modern racehorses, Imperial Call was not a Thoroughbred.
Sir Des Champs was a French-bred, Irish-trained AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning only one of his five races in his native country, Sir Des Champs was transferred to Ireland and won seven races in succession including the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle, Greenmount Park Novice Chase, Killiney Novice Chase, Jewson Novices' Chase and Growise Champion Novice Chase. The 2012/2013 saw the emergence of a rivalry between Sir Des Champs and another Irish-trained chaser Flemenstar. After beating his rival in the Hennessy Gold Cup, Sir Des Champs was regarded as a leading contender for the 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup in which he finished second to Bobs Worth. He suffered a fatal injury when competing in Point-to-point racing in May 2018.
Rule Supreme is a retired, Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. During a racing career which lasted from May 2001 until December 2009 he won eleven of his forty-six races and was placed on nineteen occasions. He showed some promise in his early career but emerged as a top-class performer in 2004 when he won the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse in England and the Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil at Auteuil Hippodrome in France. In the following year he won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland. After his career in National Hunt races was ended by injury he had some success on the amateur Point-to-point circuit.
Fiveforthree was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In a racing career which was frequently interrupted by injury, he won six of his fourteen races between February 2007 and April 2013. After showing promise in National Hunt Flat races in Ireland, he recorded his first major success when winning the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle at the 2008 Cheltenham Festival. In the following season he made only three starts but won the Grade I World Series Hurdle at Punchestown Racecourse. Plans to campaign the horse in steeplechases never came to fruition as training problems restricted him to four races in the next four years.
Champagne Fever is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is noted for his front-running style and has won seven of his thirteen races. After beginning his racing career on the amateur point-to-point circuit he became the dominant National Hunt Flat performer in Britain and Ireland in 2012, winning the Champion Bumper and the Champion INH Flat Race. In the following season he was campaigned in novice hurdle races and won two more Grade I races, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle in Ireland and Supreme Novices' Hurdle in England. In his first season over steeplechase fences he won one minor race and finished second in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and in the following year he added win in the Clonmel Oil Chase and Red Mills Chase.
Lord Windermere is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is a successful steeplechaser, winning the RSA Chase in 2013 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2014.
Faugheen is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle and back-to-back Christmas Hurdles in 2014 and 2015. His best performance on a racecourse came in the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle for which he was rated the best two-mile hurdler of the 21st century. His career started over Point-to-point fences as a four-year-old and was sent racing under National Hunt rules in the 2013/2014 season where he emerged as a leading Novice hurdler, winning all of his races including the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle, Cheltenham Novices Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle acquiring the nickname "The Machine" in the process.
Vautour was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and won three times at the Cheltenham Festival. After beginning his racing career in France he moved to Ireland and made an immediate impact over hurdles in the spring of 2014 winning the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Tattersalls Champion Novice Hurdle.
Un de Sceaux is a French-bred AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. After winning both his races in France he was transferred to the yard of trainer Willie Mullins in Ireland where he won two novice hurdles. In the 2013/14 National Hunt season he was undefeated in five races including the Red Mills Trial Hurdle in Ireland and both the Prix Hypothese and the Prix Leon Rambaud in France. When switched to steeplechases he recovered from a fall on his debut to win the Arkle Novice Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy and Ryanair Novice Chase in the 2014/15 season. In 2015/16 he won the Clarence House Chase but was beaten by Sprinter Sacre when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He began the 2016/17 season with a win in the Tingle Creek Chase and followed up with his second victory in the Clarence House Chase before taking the Ryanair Chase in March. In 2018 Un de Sceaux became the first horse to win three Clarence House chases but was disappointed at Cheltenham by Balko des Flos when attempting to regain his Ryanair crown. He finished the season on a high by winning the Devenish Chase at Fairyhouse before surprising his stablemate Douvan in the Punchestown Champion Chase, a race he won again in 2019. In the 2019/20 season he was beaten into second place by Defi Du Seuil in both the Tingle Creek Chase and the Clarence House Chase. In February 2020, while preparing for his sixth trip to the Cheltenham Festival, Un de Sceaux sustained a suspensory ligament injury and Mullins announced that the twelve-year-old would be retired to France. He had won 23 of his 34 starts, including ten Grade 1 victories.
Coneygree is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career which ran from November 2010 to February 2019 he ran in eighteen races, winning nine times. In March 2015, he became the first novice chaser to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for more than forty years. His subsequent career was hampered by injury and he did not run again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after winning it.
Nichols Canyon was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in National Hunt races. He showed good form on the flat before emerging as an outstanding performer in hurdle races. In his first two seasons of competition he raced on the flat and won three of his ten races including the Noel Murless Stakes and the Prix Denisy as well as finishing second in the St Simon Stakes.
Douvan is a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He was originally trained in France before moving to Ireland in the summer of 2014. After finishing second on his debut he won his remaining five races over hurdles including the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following year he was switched to steeplechasing and won all his six races over fences as a novice including the Racing Post Novice Chase, Arkle Novice Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy, Maghull Novices' Chase and Ryanair Novice Chase. In the 2016–17 season he continued his unbeaten run in steeplechases by winning his first three starts, including the Grade One Paddy Power Cashcard Chase, before suffering his first defeat over fences when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Djakadam is a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt races.
Sizing John is a British-bred, Irish trained thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is trained by Jessica Harrington and owned by Ann and Alan Potts, and is best known for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2017. He has been ridden in most of his races by Jonathon Burke, but has more recently been ridden Robbie Power, including all four of his Grade 1 wins over fences. He also won a Grade 1 over Hurdles, the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown in 2014, and spent much of his early chasing career finishing second or third in races won by Douvan, widely regarded as one of the best chasers of recent times.
Al Boum Photo is a French-bred, Irish-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020.
Minella Times is a retired Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In 2021, he won the Grand National under Rachael Blackmore, becoming the first horse ridden by a female jockey to win the race.
