Triumph Hurdle
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The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle horse race in the United Kingdom for four-year-old novices run over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong (3,420 metres) on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. There are eight hurdles to be jumped in the race.
It was first run in 1939 at Hurst Park Racecourse, and was transferred to Cheltenham in 1965 following the closure of its original venue. The race has been run during the Cheltenham Festival since 1968, having previously been run in April. There have been three sponsors of the race since the move to Cheltenham - Daily Express (1965 - 1996), Elite Racing Club (1997 - 2000), and JCB (2002 - present).
Winning this race can be a burden for connections of the horse. The next season the horse will still be relatively young. If entered in handicaps they will carry a high weight which they will find difficult to cope with. Meanwhile five-year-old horses have a very poor record in the Champion Hurdle or Stayers Hurdle. This is a major reason why many trainers have eventually sent their winning horse novice chasing. The burden of the race is shown by the 2000, 2002 and 2003 winners never winning another race of any sort.
[edit] Trivia
- 1974 The BBC commentator on the race Peter O'Sullevan also owned the winner. If he ever commentated on a race in which he owned the winner he would speak the winning owner's name (i.e his own) very quickly almost in disguise.
- 1981 The 66/1 success of Baron Blakeney was Martin Pipe's first victory in a major National Hunt race and the first of his 32 Cheltenham Festival winners.
- 1988 Kribensis is the last winner to go on to win the Champion Hurdle. The previous horse to do so was future triple champion Persian War.
- 1990 Rare Holiday was the last maiden hurdler to win.
- 1993 Shawiya was the first mare to win.
- 1994 Mysilv was the second mare to win and also the first winning favourite since Attivo.
- 1995 The second past the post Dr Leunt was accidentally pushed through a running rail during the race technically taking a short-cut. Therefore, under the rules he was disqualified. In fact, the maneuver cost him ground, energy and possibly the chance to pass the post first. In 1996 the second past the post Magical Lady cut across Embellished on the run to the final hurdle causing that horse to fall on the flat. Magical Lady was also disqualified.
- 1997 Commanche Court went on to win the 2000 Irish Grand National as a maiden chaser and came second in the 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
- 1999 Katarino went to a complete change of career and won the 2005 and 2006 Fox Hunters chase over the National fences.
- 2006 Detroit City went on to win the Cesarewitch on the flat. He is also the first winner since Commanche Court in 1997 to go on to win a hurdles race as a five-year-old or above.
[edit] Winners since 1965
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1965 | Blarney Beacon | Geordie Ramshaw | Ron Smyth |
| 1966 | Black Ice | Bobby Beasley | Arthur Thomas |
| 1967 | Persian War | Jimmy Uttley | Brian Swift |
| 1968 | England's Glory | Jimmy Uttley | Staff Ingham |
| 1969 | Coral Diver | Terry Biddlecombe | Fred Rimell |
| 1970 | Varma | Brian Barker | Mick Masson |
| 1971 | Boxer | Jimmy Uttley | Ron Smyth |
| 1972 | Zarib | Bill Smith | Fred Rimell |
| 1973 | Moonlight Bay | Johnnie Haine | Ryan Price |
| 1974 | Attivo | Robert Hughes | Cyril Mitchell |
| 1975 | Royal Epic | Fred McKenna | Vernon Cross |
| 1976 | Peterhof | Jonjo O'Neill | Mick Easterby |
| 1977 | Meladon | Tommy Carberry | Adrian Maxwell |
| 1978 | Connaught Ranger | John Burke | Fred Rimell |
| 1979 | Pollardstown | Philip Blacker | Stan Mellor |
| 1980 | Heighlin | Steve Jobar | David Elsworth |
| 1981 | Baron Blakeney | Paul Leach | Martin Pipe |
| 1982 | Shiny Copper | Allen Webb | Dina Smith |
| 1983 | Saxon Farm | Mark Perrett | Stan Mellor |
| 1984 | Northern Game | Tommy Ryan | Edward O'Grady |
| 1985 | First Bout | Steve Smith Eccles | Nicky Henderson |
| 1986 | Solar Cloud | Peter Scudamore | David Nicholson |
| 1987 | Alone Success | Steve Smith Eccles | Nicky Henderson |
| 1988 | Kribensis | Richard Dunwoody | Michael Stoute |
| 1989 | Ikdam | Nigel Coleman | Richard Holder |
| 1990 | Rare Holiday | Brendan Sheridan | Dermot Weld |
| 1991 | Oh So Risky | Paul Holley | David Elsworth |
| 1992 | Duke of Monmouth | Mark Richards | Simon Sherwood |
| 1993 | Shawiya | Charlie Swan | Michael O'Brien |
| 1994 | Mysilv | Adrian Maguire | David Nicholson |
| 1995 | Kissair | Jonothan Lower | Martin Pipe |
| 1996 | Paddy's Return | Richard Dunwoody | Ferdy Murphy |
| 1997 | Commanche Court | Norman Williamson | Ted Walsh |
| 1998 | Upgrade | Carl Llewellyn | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
| 1999 | Katarino | Mick Fitzgerald | Nicky Henderson |
| 2000 | Snow Drop | Thierry Doumen | François Doumen |
| 2001 race cancelled because of foot and mouth crisis | |||
| 2002 | Scolardy | Charlie Swan | Willie Mullins |
| 2003 | Spectroscope | Barry Geraghty | Jonjo O'Neill |
| 2004 | Made in Japan | Richard Johnson | Philip Hobbs |
| 2005 | Penzance | Robert Thornton | Alan King |
| 2006 | Detroit City | Richard Johnson | Philip Hobbs |
| 2007 | Katchit | Robert Thornton | Alan King |
