Pineau de Re

Last updated

Pineau de Re
Pineau De Re.jpg
Pineau De Re at Sandown in April 2014.
SireMaresca Sorrento
GrandsireCadoudal
DamElfe du Perche
DamsireAbdonski
SexGelding
Foaled8 May 2003
CountryFrance
Colour Bay
BreederMichel Hardy
OwnerBarry Connell
John Provan
TrainerPhilip Fenton
Richard Newland
Record44: 8-7-4
Earnings£677,271
Major wins
Ulster Grand National (2013)
Grand National (2014)

Pineau de Re (foaled 8 May 2003) is a French-bred, British-trained AQPS racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Grand National.

Contents

Background

Pineau de Re is a bay gelding with no white markings bred in France by Michel Hardy. His sire Maresca Sorrento was a winning hurdler in France and has had some success as a sire of jumpers. [1] His dam, Elfe du Perche was not a Thoroughbred, being of Selle Français ancestry. In July 2005 the gelding was consigned by the Ecurie Bayard to the Goffs France sale where he was bought for €20,000 by Seamus Murphy. [2] The gelding was sent into training with Philip Fenton at Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary.

Racing career

Irish career

Pineau de Re began his racing career in National Hunt Flat races in the 2007/2008 National Hunt season. He ran five times, finishing second on his debut at Limerick and recording his only success when winning at Fairyhouse on 23 February 2008. [3]

After missing the whole of the next two seasons, Pineau de Re returned as a Novice hurdler. He won on his debut over obstacles at Limerick on 17 November 2010. [4] He was beaten in four subsequent starts but showed good form when finishing second in both the Grade I Royal Bond Novice Hurdle and the Grade II Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle. The gelding continued to compete over hurdles in the 2011/2012 season recording his only success in six attempts when winning a handicap race at Thurles Racecourse in October. [5]

In the following season, Pineau de Re was moved up to compete in steeplechases. He made little initial impact, being well beaten in his first four attempts over the larger obstacles before winning a minor event at Thurles on 3 January 2013. [6] After two further defeats he was matched against more experienced opponent in the three and a half-mile Ulster Grand National at Downpatrick Racecourse on 3 April. Ridden by Danny Mullins, he started the 13/2 second favourite in a field of fifteen runners and won by twenty-three lengths. [7]

British career

After his win in the Ulster National Pineau de Re was sold to John Provan and sent to be trained in England by Richard Newland at Claines in Worcestershire. Racing for his new connections, Pineau de Re ran four times without success in the summer of 2013.

Pineau de Re began the 2013/2014 season by finishing fifth in a hurdle race at Cheltenham Racecourse and then fell in the Becher Chase on his first run at Aintree in December. Later that month he returned to handicap hurdling, finishing second at Carlisle Racecourse and seventh at Haydock Park. He recorded his first victory in England in a Veterans' Steeplechase (restricted to horses aged 10 or over) at Exeter Racecourse on 14 January. Ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies he started the 11/4 favourite and won by five lengths from Tullamore Dew. [8] On his final appearance before the Grand National, Pineau de Re ran for the first time at the Cheltenham Festival when he contested the Pertemps Final, a two-mile, five furlong handicap hurdle. Starting a 33/1 outsider, he finished strongly to take third place, beaten a nose and a neck by Fingal Bay and Southfield Theatre.

On 5 April, Pineau de Re started at odds of 25/1 for the 2014 Grand National at Aintree. [9] He was ridden by the veteran jockey Leighton Aspell as Sam Twiston-Davies had opted to ride the more fancied Tidal Bay. [10] The race was delayed by two false starts. Pineau de Re took the lead approaching the last of the thirty fences and drew away on the run-in to win by five lengths from Balthazar King, with the joint-favourite Double Seven in third place. [11] After the race Aspell said "It's a wonderful day, this is what we do it for. I've been watching the National since I was a very young boy. As much as you enjoy sharing everyone's success, you crave a bit too. To get a chance to ride in the National is a great thing, and to get on one with a chance is even better". [12]

In the following season, Pineau de Re was again aimed at the National, but his form was poor. He finished towards the rear in hurdle races at Cheltenham in November and Exeter in February and was pulled up at Carlisle in December. He again ran in the Pertemps Final in March, but on this occasion he finished eleventh of the twenty-three runners behind Call The Cops. In the Grand National he started at odds of 25/1 and finished twelfth of the nineteen finishers behind Many Clouds.

Pineau de Re returned in October 2015 and finished unplaced in a veteran's chase at Chepstow and then ran second to Vino Grigio at Sandown in November. The gelding fell at the second in the Becher Chase and then started at odds of 7/1 in a handicap hurdle at Carlisle on 13 December. Ridden by Richard Johnson he took the led at the second last and won by four lengths under a weight of 162 pounds. His victory was notable as no Grand National winner had gone on to win another race since Bindaree won the Welsh National in 2003. [13] He was pulled up in a hurdle at Chepstow in February and then finished seventh in a veterans' chase at Newbury. He was assigned a weight of 142 pounds for the 2016 Grand National but did not qualify to run: the race was restricted to forty runners and Pineau de Re was rated forty-sixth in the handicap. Newland was unhappy at the exclusion, stating "The Grand National is the public's race and the public surely want to see a previous winner" before pointing out that many of the horses rated above Pineau de Re had earned their handicap marks over much shorter distances.

Pineau is now a successful ROR horse and has been retrained as an eventer. He is on loan to and ridden by Lizzie Doolittle, who rides out at the Newlands as well as running her own event yard near Worcester with head girl Jojo Glanvill. Pineau has successfully completed several events at BE90 and BE100 level with aims to go Novice this year.

Honours

In July 2014 the sign welcoming visitors to the village of Claines was redesigned to read "Welcome to Claines, Home of 2014 Grand National winner Pineau De Re". [14]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Pineau de Re (FR), bay gelding, 2003
Sire
Maresca Sorrento (FR)
1995
Cadoudal (FR)
1979
Green Dancer Nijinsky
Green Valley
Come To SeaSea Hawk
Camarilla
French Free Star (FR)
1981
CarmarthenDevon
Kuwait
VargaTombeur
Peditao
Dam
Elfe du Perche (FR)
1992
Abdonski (FR)
1980 
Bolkonski Balidar
Perennial
Abdecka Abdos
Strelka
Ut de Perche (FR)
1986
CarmontCarmarthen
Montagne
DjoumiVieux Chateau
Loyola (Selle Français)

Related Research Articles

Gordon Elliott is a County Meath-based National Hunt racehorse trainer. After riding as an amateur jockey, he took out a trainer's licence in 2006. He was 29 when his first Grand National entry, the 33 to 1 outsider Silver Birch, won the 2007 race. In 2018 and 2019 he won the Grand National with Tiger Roll, ridden by Davy Russell and owned by Gigginstown House Stud, the first horse since Red Rum to win the race twice. In 2018 he also won the Irish Grand National, with General Principle. On two occasions, in 2017 and 2018, he was the top trainer at the Cheltenham Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silviniaco Conti</span> French racehorse

Silviniaco Conti was a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning several important races over hurdles he emerged as a leading long-distance steeplechaser in 2012. After winning both his races in his native country, the horse won his first three races in England, culminating with a success in the two and a half mile Ascot Hurdle. After running poorly over shorter distances he was ruled out of a bid for the Champion Hurdle and was switched to steeplechasing. In his first season as a chaser he won the Mildmay Novices' Chase and finished second in a strong renewal of the Feltham Chase. In the 2012/2013 season he won the Charlie Hall Chase, Betfair Chase and Denman Chase and in the following season he was rated the best jumper in Britain and Ireland after wins in the King George VI Chase and Betfred Bowl. In the 2014/2015 season he recorded repeat victories in the Betfair Chase, King George VI Chase and Betfred Bowl but failed when favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In the following season he was beaten in his first three races but returned to form in February to win the Grade One Ascot Chase by 20 lengths.

Auroras Encore is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2013 Grand National. In a racing career which lasted from February 2007 until January 2014 he won two hurdle races and six steeplechases from forty-seven starts.

Albertas Run was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. He won two National Hunt Flat races and became a successful hurdler, winning the National Hunt Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final and the John Smith's Extra Cold Handicap Hurdle in 2007. He became more successful as a Steeplechaser, winning four Grade I races: the Royal and SunAlliance Chase, the Melling Chase and two runnings of the Ryanair Chase. His other wins included the Reynoldstown Novices' Chase, the Amlin 1965 Chase and the Old Roan Chase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Grand National</span>

The 2014 Grand National was the 167th annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase, which concluded a three-day meeting, took place on 5 April 2014. The maximum permitted field of 40 runners competed for a share of a record £1 million prize fund, which makes the National the most valuable jump race in Europe.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leighton Aspell</span> Irish jockey

Leighton Aspell is a retired Irish jockey, whose wins include the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle riding United, two runnings of the Welsh National, the 2014 Grand National riding Pineau de Re and the 2015 Grand National riding Many Clouds.

Call Equiname was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. In a racing career frequently interrupted by injury he raced twenty-one times in eight seasons, winning eleven races. Despite an undistinguished pedigree, he showed promise in his early career, winning the Kennel Gate Novices' Hurdle in 1995. He reached his peak in the spring of 1999 when he won the Victor Chandler Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He was retired from racing in January 2001.

Martha's Son was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. After competing in minor hurdle events for the first two years of his racing career, he demonstrated dramatic improvement when switched to steeplechasing, winning nine consecutive races including the Peterborough Chase, Victor Chandler Chase and Comet Chase. He returned after a long injury lay-off to produce his best form as a ten-year-old in the spring of 1997, defeating strong fields in both the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Melling Chase. His veteran trainer Tim Forster regarded him as the best horse he had ever trained. Martha's Son was retired from racing after failing to recover from serious muscular injuries in a race in November 1997. He died in May 1999.

Klairon Davis was a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. In a racing career which lasted from April 1993 and May 2001, he won twenty of his fifty-four races and was placed on sixteen occasions. After beginning in National Hunt Flat races he competed over hurdles winning the Punchestown Champion Novice Hurdle in 1994. In the following season he raced in novice chases and recorded major wins in the Dennys Gold Medal Chase, Arkle Novice Chase and Arkle Challenge Trophy. In 1996 he had his biggest success when taking the Queen Mother Champion Chase and followed up in the BMW Handicap Chase. He was never as good again, but won a second BMW Chase in 1997 and took the Normans Grove Chase in 1998, 1999 and 2001 before retiring at the age of twelve. During his career he had sustained rivalries with the leading Irish jumpers Sound Man and Merry Gale.

Deep Sensation was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. He ran in six consecutive Cheltenham Festivals and is best known for his win in the 1993 Queen Mother Champion Chase. In his first three seasons he was campaigned in hurdle races, recording his most notable success in the 1990 Tote Gold Trophy. When switched to larger obstacles he was one of the leading novice steeplechasers of 1991/1992, winning the Lightning Novices' Chase and the Nottinghamshire Novices' Chase. He reached his peak in the following season, when he took the H & T Walker Gold Cup, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Melling Chase. He never won another major race but recorded two minor wins and was placed in several important chases over the next two years. He was retired from racing after a narrow defeat in the 1995 Melling Chase after winning thirteen of his forty-nine races and being placed on twenty-one occasions. He died in November 2003 at the age of eighteen.

Remittance Man was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. He was noted for his consistency, excellent jumping and nervous temperament. Between December 1988 and April 1990 he competed in hurdle races, and showed promise by winning two of his twelve races including the Grade 2 Bristol Novices' Hurdle and never finishing worse than third. When switched to compete in steeplechases he showed immediate improvement and won thirteen of his first fourteen races over fences. In his first season of steeplechasing his wins included the Noel Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, Galloway Braes Novices' Chase and Arkle Challenge Trophy. He had his greatest success in the 1991/1992 season when he won the Arlington Premier Chase, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Melling Chase. In the following autumn he won the Desert Orchid Chase and the Peterborough Chase but then sustained a serious tendon injury. He won his comeback race in February 1994 but was beaten in his three remaining races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodging Bullets</span> British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Dodging Bullets is a British Thoroughbred racehorse, best known for his performances in National Hunt races. Bred by the leading jockey Frankie Dettori he had a flat racing career of limited importance, winning two minor races from nine starts as a three-year-old in 2011. He showed better form when switched to hurdles, winning the Sharp Novices' Hurdle in 2012. He proved even better when he began to compete in steeplechases, winning the November Novices' Chase and the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase in 2013. In the 2014/2015 National Hunt season he emerged as one of the best chasers in Britain, recording three consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Tingle Creek Chase, Clarence House Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Many Clouds</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Many Clouds was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Grand National. After being sold as a foal, he was sent to England and trained for a National Hunt racing career by Oliver Sherwood.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One For Arthur</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

One For Arthur was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In 2017 he became the second horse trained in Scotland to win the Grand National.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger Roll</span> Thoroughbred racehorse

Tiger Roll is a retired Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019. He has also won five times at the Cheltenham Festival: the Triumph Hurdle in 2014, the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in 2017 and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native River</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Native River is an Irish-bred, British-trained, Thoroughbred racehorse who races under National Hunt rules. He is a specialist long-distance steeplechaser known for his front-running style and apparently inexhaustible stamina. He won three minor hurdle races but began to show better form in the 2015/16 when taking the Worcester Novices' Chase and the Mildmay Novices' Chase. He emerged as a top-class steeplechaser in the following season when he won the Hennessy Gold Cup, Welsh Grand National and Denman Chase as well as finishing third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In the spring of 2018 he won a second Denman Chase before recording his biggest win in the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Lisnagar Oscar is an Irish-bred, British-trained racehorse best known for his achievements in National Hunt racing. He won his only Point-to-point race and then showed very promising form as a Novice hurdler in the 2018/19 National Hunt season, winning the Prestige Novices' Hurdle and being placed in both the Prestige Novices' Hurdle and the Sefton Novices' Hurdle. In the following season he raced unsuccessfully in Steeplechases before returning to smaller obstacles and recording his biggest win in the Stayers' Hurdle. He failed to win in his first four start of the 2020/21 season, when he underwent surgery to correct his breathing.

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.

References

  1. "Maresca Sorrento Stud Record". Racing Post. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  2. "Goffs France Summer Sale". Racing Post . Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  3. "Rockview INH Race result". Racing Post. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  4. "Christmas Festival Maiden Hurdle result". Racing Post. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  5. "Premier County Hurdle result". Racing Post. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  6. "Devil's Bit Beginners Chase result". Racing Post. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  7. "Ulster Grand National result". Racing Post. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  8. "32RedPoker.com Veterans' Handicap Chase result". Racing Post. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  9. "Pineau De Re triumphs in 2014 Grand National". Racing Post. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  10. "Grand National 2014 results: Pineau De Re's beano proves small miracle". The Independent. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  11. "Leighton Aspell wins Grand National on Pineau De Re at Aintree". Guardian. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  12. Tom Kerr (5 April 2014). "Pineau De Re triumphs in 2014 Grand National". Racing Post . Archived from the original on 16 April 2015.
  13. Jack Haynes. "Pineau De Re ends Grand National hoodoo". Racing Post . Archived from the original on 22 April 2016.
  14. "Grand National winner sets Claines apart with new signs". Bromsgrove Advertiser.