The Fellow

Trained by François Doumen in Pau, southwestern France and ridden, for much of his career, by Polish-born jockey Adam Kondrat, The Fellow won the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 1991 and 1992. However, as far as the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, he is probably best remembered for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, at the fourth time of asking, in 1994. That said, anyone who backed him in the previous three renewals has good reason to remember that his defeats were attributable, at least according to some observers, to his jockey.

The Fellow made his first appearance in the 'Blue Riband' event in 1991, as a six-year-old, when has was sent off a largely unconsidered 28/1 outsider. However, despite Kondrat taking a wide route for the whole way and a bad mistake at the fifteenth fence, The Fellow was the only horse to make a race of it with eventual winner Garrison Savannah. Indeed, The Fellow 'sprinted' up the run-in, making up the better part of three lengths, but was denied by a short head.




On the back of that performance, and his subsequent win in the King George VI Chase, The Fellow was sent off 7/2 second favourite for his second attempt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1992. Kondrat rode a not entirely dissimilar race and, after a ding-dong battle with eventual winner and third, Cool Dawn and Docklands Express, on the run-in, The Fellow was headed in the final strides and denied by a short head for the second year running.




In 1993, The Fellow was sent off a heavily-backed 5/4 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but could manage only fourth, beaten 9½ lengths, behind Jodami, having been outpaced from the top of the hill. He was back again, as a nine-year-old, in 1994, by which time it seemed his time had passed. However, sporting blinkers and ridden closer to the pace than had previously been the case, The Fellow was always travelling and jumping well and kept on strongly in the closing stages to beat Jodami by 1½ lengths and, finally, reward his connections' perseverance.

Mick Fitzgerald

 

Nowadays, Mick Fitzgerald is best known as a television presenter on ITV Racing but, in his younger days, was one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys of his generation. Before being forced into retirement after sustaining neck and knee damage in a fall from L'Ami in the 2008 Grand National, Fitzgerald rode 1,295 winners, including 14 at the Cheltenham Festival.

Fitzgerald was leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival twice. On the first occasion, in 1999, he achieved a notable double on Call Equiname and See More Business, both trained by Paul Nicholls, in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, respectively. That year, he also won the Triumph Hurdle on Katarino and the now-defunct Cathcart Challenge Cup on Stormyfairweather, both for Nicky Henderson. On the second, in 2000, he won the Arkle Challenge Trophy on Tiutchev, the Festival Trophy on Marlborough, the Stayers' Hurdle on Bacchanal and the Cathcart Challenge Cup on Stormyfairweather again; all four winners were trained by Nicky Henderson.

Remarkably, despite a 15-year association with Nicky Henderson – who is, nowadays, the leading trainer in the history of the Champion Hurdle, with eight wins – Fiztgerald never won the two-mile hurdling championship. In fact, in twelve attempts, two third places, on Blue Royal in 2000 and Afsoun in 2007, were the best he could muster.

How many winners did Davy Russell ride at the Cheltenham Festival?

David 'Davy' Russell announced his retirement from the saddle, for the first time, at Thurles on December 18, 2022, having ridden Liberty Dance to victory for his long-time ally, Co. Meath trainer Gordon Elliott. However, when hapless stable jockey Jack Kennedy broke his leg, for the fifth time in his career, in a heavy fall at Naas on January 8, 2023, Russell was persuaded to return to the saddle on a short-term basis to solve an injury crisis at Cullentra House. Having done so, he endured a forgettable Cheltenham Festival in 2023, drawing a blank and standing himself down from his intended mount, Conflated, in the Cheletnham Gold Cup after being 'too sore to ride'. Russell eventually retired, for the second time, on Grand National Day 2023. On the horse racing predictions front, it was on the cards.

Champion National Hunt Jockey is his native Ireland in 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2017/18, Russell is probably best known to the wider racing public for his association with Tiger Roll – trained by Elliott and owned by his principal patron, Gigginstown House Stud – on whom he scored back-to-back victories in the Grand National in 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that, for much of his career, the Cheltenham Festival proved a happy hunting ground for the Corkman.

Russell rode his first Festival winner, Native Jack, trained by Philip Rothwell, in what is now the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase on March 14, 2006. Thereafter, with the exceptions of 2019, 2021, when he missed the Festival through injury, 2022 and 2023, he rode at least one winner at the March showpiece every year. In 2014, Russell won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Lord Windermere, trained by Jim Culloty and, in 2018, won the Ruby Walsh Trophy, presented to the leading jockey at the Chetenham Festival, with four winners. All told, Russell rode 25 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, placing him joint-fourth on the all-time list, alongside Pat Taaffe and behind only Ruby |Walsh, Barry Geraghty and Tony McCoy. A record like this is a level above most. To take a different sport, in the football tips world, this would be like routnely striking gold with your selections over a period of time. Something we all hope for, but don't all have the knack of doing!

Katchit

 

The winner of just one of is 14 starts for Mick Channon, and two more for Alan King, on the Flat as a two- and three-year-old, Katchit proved something of a revelation when sent over hurdles at the start of the 2006/07 National Hunt season. Ridden by Robert 'Chocolate' Thornton, as he was in all bar two of his 24 hurdles starts, Katchit opened his account at the first time of asking, winning a juvenile novices' hurdle at Market Rasen by 9 lengths eased down. Indeed, over the next two seasons, he would win ten of his 13 starts, including twice at the Cheltenham Festival, finish second twice and third once.

Fresh from a 1¾-length victory over previous Grade One winner Good Bye Simon in the Finesse Juvenile Hurdle the previous January, Katchit was sent off 11/2 second-favourite for a competitive, 23-runner renewal of the Triumph Hurdle, over the same course and distance, on his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival in 2007. Competitive on paper, that is, because Katchit drew clear in the closing stages for an impressive, 9-length victory.

The following season he returned to the Cheltenham Festival, attempting to become the first Triumph Hurdle winner since Kribensis, in 1990, to win the Champion Hurdle. After suffering defeats by Harchibald and Osana, both of whom reopposed, earlier in the season, Katchit was sent off at 10/1 joint-fifth choice of the market behind 2/1 favourite Sizing Europe. However, with the market leader suffering an injury in-running, on 4lb better terms, Katchit managed to reverse earlier International Hurdle form with Osana to the tune of 9 lengths, to win, all out, by a length. In so doing, he became the first five-year-old to win the Champion Hurdle since See You Then in 1985.

L'Escargot

To the public at large, L'Escargot is probably best remembered for his exploits in the Grand National, in which he finished third in 1973, second in 1974 and won, by 15 lengths, in 1975, thereby thwarting an unprecedented hat-trick by Red Rum. However, earlier in his career, L'Escargot was a three-time Cheltenham Festival winner, winning the second division of the Gloucestershire Hurdle, now the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, in 1968 and recording back-to-back victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970 and 1971. Aside from Golden Miller, who won both races in 1934, he remains the only horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National.

Owned by Raymond Guest, US Ambassador to Ireland between 1965 and 1968, and trained by Dan Moore in Fairyhouse, Co. Meath, started second favourite for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1969, finishing sixth to Persian War, before being sent over fences. The following year, for his first attempt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, L'Escargot was sent off an unconsidered 33/1 outsider, behind hot favourite Kinloch Brae, who carried the yellow and black colours of Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, made famous by Arkle. However, the market leader fell at the third-last fence and L'Escargot outstayed French Tan in the closing stages to win by a length-and-a-half.

L'Escargot returned, as defending champion, in 1971 and, in a substandard renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, had little difficulty in beating the novice Leapfrog and The Dikler by 10 lengths and 15 lengths. He tried, and failed, to add a third Cheltenham Gold Cup to his winning tally in 1972 and 1973, finishing fourth on both occasions.

Which are the top three jumping mares in the history Timeform?

The first thing to say about the history of Timeform, as far as National Hunt racing is concerned, is that it dates back only to 1962, when the weekly Timeform Black Book in that domain was first published. Indeed, the 'Chasers & Hurdlers' annual, which included Timeform commentaries and ratings for every horse that ran over jumps in Britain the previous season, did not appear until 1976.

However, the six and a bit decades of the 'Timeform era' are plenty long enough to identify the top three jumping mares of modern times. In fact, the Halifax-based organisation takes pride in the consistency of its ratings, which are specifically designed to allow comparison between horses from different generations, so its findings make fascinating reading.

Few would argue, for example, that Dawn Run, who remains the only horse, of either sex, in history – Timeform or otherwise – to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, fully deserves her position atop the all-time list. Owned by Mrs. Charmian Hill and trained by Paddy Mullins, father of 17-times Irish Champion National Hunt Trainer Willie Mullins, Dawn Run won 21 of her 35 starts and, in so doing, achieved a Timeform Annual Rating of 173 over hurdles and 167 over fences.

Ridden by Jonjo O'Neill, Dawn Run justified odds-on favouritism in the Champion Hurdle in 1984, when any challenge from her nearest market rival, Desert Orchid, failed to materialise. Two years later, reunited with O'Neill for the first time since, she belied her inexperience over fences by justifying favouritism in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, courtesy of a last-gasp victory over the veteran Wayward Lad. Dawn Run also remains the only horse to have won the Champion Hurdle, Irish Champion Hurdle and Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil (a.k.a. the French Champion Hurdle) in the same season..

Perhaps less heralded than the history-making Dawn Run, the mare in second place on the all-time list, Anaglogs Daughter, has the distinction of being the highest-rated of her sex to race over fences in the history of Timeform. Bred for the Flat, the daughter of Above Suspicion out of Anaglog, by Will Sommers, won three times in that sphere before her attention was turned to jumping obstacles. However, it was following her transfer trainer Bill Durkan – although Ferdy Murphy is generally credited with her preparation – that she began to climb through the ranks of the steeplechasing division.

All told, Anaglogs Daughter won 15 of her 64 starts over obstacles, including the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the 1980 Cheltenham Festival, all at distances up to two and a half mile, and achieved a Timeform Annual Rating of 171 over fences. At the 1981 Cheltenham Festival, she was sent off 10/11 favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, despite a last-minute injury, which placed her participation in doubt; she was headed on the approach to the final fence and finally went down by 7 lengths to the largely unconsidered 25/1 chance Drungora.

Third on the all-time list, according to Timeform, comes Annie Power, who achieved a rating of 170+ over hurdles (with the '+' indicating that she may have been 'rather better' than her bare rating). Owned by Susannah Ricci and trained by Willie Mullins, for all bar her first two starts, the daughter of Breeders' Cup Turf and Coronation Cup winner Shirocco tasted defeat just twice in her 17-race career. She was beaten favourite (although beaten just 1½ lengths) in the World Hurdle at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival and, again, when a last-flight faller in the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle the following year. Nevertheless, she returned to Prestbury Park in 2016, justifying favouritism in the Champion Hurdle and thereby becoming just the fourth mare in history to win the two-mile hurdling championship.

Which races constitute the so-called 'Triple Crown of Hurdling'?

As the same suggest, the Triple Crown of Hurdling consists of a trio of Grade 1 hurdle races, in which horses compete at level weights, but with allowances for age and gender, over the minimum distance of two miles, or thereabouts. In chronological order, as far as the British National Hunt calendar is concerned, the races in question are the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park and the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The Champion Hurdle, run over an official distance of 2 miles and 87 yards on the Old Course at Prestbury Park in March, is far and away the oldest of the three, having been established, under the auspices of the 'indefatigable' Frederick Cathcart, in 1927. The Fighting Fifth Hurdle, which takes its name from the nickname of the former Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and is run over 2 miles and 46 yards in late November or early December, and the Christmas Hurdle, run over 2 miles on Boxing Day, are more recent additions to the programme, having both been inaugurated in 1969.

In the last four decades or so, a dozen horses, including the likes of Sea Pigeon, Dawn Run and, more recently, Faugheen, have won two of the three races. Perhaps the unluckiest loser of all, though, was Punjabi, trained by Nicky Henderson, who was a narrow winner of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle but, in between times, fell at the second-last flight, when nearly upsides, in the Christmas Hurdle; in so doing, he missed out on a £1,000,000 bonus, offered by the now-defunct World Bet Exchange (WBX), for winning all three races.

In fact, no horse ever won the bonus, which was only offered between 2006 and 2010 but, beforehand, Kribensis, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, won the Triple Crown of Hurdling in 1989/90 and, afterwards, Buveur D'Air and Constitution Hill, both trained by Nicky Henderson, did so again in 2017/18 and 2022/23. The hitherto unbeaten Constitution Hill is pencilled in for all three races, once again, in 2023/24, so may well repeat the feat for the second season running.

Which horses finished first, second and third in the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup?

The history books record that the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by the 15/8 favourite Dawn Run, trained by Paddy Mullins and ridden by Jonjo O'Neill, but younger readers may ask, with some justification, 'So what?' Well, it would be fair to say that the bare result in no way does justice to what turned out to be a monumental event in the history of National Hunt racing.

Two years previously, Dawn Run had justified odds-on favouritism in the Champion Hurdle, under O'Neill, but despite making a winning start to her steeplechasing career at Navan in November, 1984, missed her intended target at the 1985 Cheltenham Festival, the Sun Alliance Chase, with ligament damage. Consequently, when she returned to the Festival in 1986, she had raced just five times over fences and unseated her regular jockey, Tony Mullins, in her preparatory race for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Holsten Distributors Chase – now the Cotswold Chase – two months previously.

In the Cheltenham Gold Cup itself, Dawn Run was controversially reunited with O'Neill and, despite her inexperience, was sent off an optimistic favourite in a vintage renewal of the Blue Riband event. The opposition included first three home in the 1985 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Forgive 'N Forget, Righthand Man and Earls Brig, the first three home in the 1985 King George VI Chase, Wayward Lad, Combs Ditch and Earls Brig, again, and the Welsh National winner, Run And Skip.

Dawn Run led over the second-last fence, but was joined, and passed, by Wayward Lad and Forgive 'N Forget on the run to the final fence and, briefly, looked booked for third place at best. The veteran Wayward Lad took a two-length lead on the run-in, which he held until 50 yards or so from the winning post but, switched to the centre of the course and galvanised by O'Neill, Dawn Run overhauled the tiring leader to win by a length in record time. Thus, she became the first horse in history to complete the Champion Hurdle – Cheltenham Gold Cup double. For the record, Forgive 'N Forget finished third, a further 2½ lengths away.