Good Evening!
I hope day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival was a successful, enjoyable one for you all. Today I am looking back at the history of tomorrow’s Stayers’ Hurdle, so let’s get right into it!
The Stayers’ Hurdle began back in 1912 and is ran over 2 miles, 7 furlong and 213 yards. It is for four year olds and older and is ran on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival each year.
The first winner of the race in 1912 was Aftermath for jockey J. W. Pullen for trainer Newey Hednesford for owner A. Newey. The next two runs of the race in 1913 and 1914 were both won by Silver Bay for jockey W Catling, trainer Fitton Lewes and owner G. H. Hearman.
The next notable winner was called Warwick, who won once in 1923 for I. Morgan, trainer Tabor and owner S. Cohen, then again in 1925, for jockey George Duller, trainer W. Payne and owner Jesse Brown.
The next notable winner would be over 50 years later when Galmoy won in 1987 for jockey Tommy Carmody, trainer John Mulhern and owner Miss D. Threadwell the again for the same trio a year later in 1988.
We then wait for over 10 years, when in 2002 and 2003 we had Baracouda who won both times for jockey Thierry Doumen, trainer François Doumen and owner J.P. McManus. A few years later Inglis Drever would achieve this also winning twice in a row, three times in total, once in 2005 for Graham Lee, trainer Howard Johnson and owners Andrea & Graham Wylie, then again 2 years later in 2007 for jockey Paddy Brennan, then again in 2008 for jockey Denis O’Regan for the same trainer and owner.
Next up would come the most successful horse in the Stayers’ Hurdle to date, Big Bucks. Big Bucks starting his winning streak in 2009 winning for jockey Ruby Walsh, trainer Paul Nicholls and owners the Stewart Family, he would then win again in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for the same trio.
Some horses to note in the following years include More Of That (2014) for Barry Geraghty, Jonjo O’Neill and J.P. McManus. Thistlecrack (2016) for Tom Scudamore, Colin Tizzard and John & Heather Snook. Nichols Canyon (2017) for Ruby Walsh, Willie Mullins and Andrea & Graham Wylie. Penhill for Paul Townend, Willie Mullins and Tony Bloom, Paisley Park (2019) for Aidan Coleman, Emma Lavelle and Andrew Gemmell. The finally the 2020 winner, Lisnagar Oscar for Adam Wedge, Rebecca Curtis and owners, Racing For Fun.
Now onto some interesting things to note about the race. The Festival was not run between 1916 and 1919 because of World War 1. Between 1928 and 1929, the race was dropped from the Festival programme. The race was then abandoned in 1931 due to frost and again in 1937 due to flooding. Between 1939 and 1945 it was once again dropped from the Festival programme, before in 1947 it was abandoned due to snow and frost. The race was also cancelled in 2001 due to a foot and mouth crisis.
As I mentioned above, the most successful horse (since 1972) in this race up until today is Big Buck’s who won a total of four times in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The leading jockey (since 1972) being Ruby Walsh, who won a total of 5 times on Big Buck’s (2009,2010, 2011 & 2012) as well as Nichols Canyon (2017).
Moving onto the leading trainer (since 1972), Paul Nicholls, who has won a total of 4 times, all four times with Big Buck’s (2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012).
There are two leading owners in the Stayers’ Hurdle (since 1972), both with 4 wins each:
The Stewart Family – Big Buck’s (2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012)
Andrea & Graham Wylie – Inglis Drever (2005, 2007 & 2008) and Nichols Canyon (2017).
So there we have the history of the Stayers’ Hurdle. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s renewal, I think it should be a brilliant race. I hope you all enjoyed today’s post and again, learnt something new.
I shall see you in tomorrow’s post where at the same time of 6pm for The History of the Cheltenham Gold Cup!
zoelouisesmithx 