1994 Champion Hurdle
| 65th Champion Hurdle Cheltenham, 15 March 1994 |
| won by Flakey Dove (GB) |
The 1994 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 15 March 1994. It was the 65th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The winner was J. T. Price's Flakey Dove, an eight-year-old bay mare trained in Herefordshire by Richard Price and ridden by Mark Dwyer. Flakey Dove's victory was a first in the race for jockey, trainer and owner and the third in the race for a female racehorse after African Sister in 1939 and Dawn Run in 1984.
Flakey Dove was a non-Thoroughbred mare, who had made steady improvement since finishing seventh in the 1993 Champion Hurdle an emerged as a legitimate contender for the following year's renewal with wins in the Champion Hurdle Trial, Cleeve Hurdle and Berkshire Hurdle in early 1994. Starting at odds of 9/1 she won the Champion Hurdle by one and a half lengths from the favourite Oh So Risky with Large Action in third place. Two previous winners of the race took part: Granville Again finished seventh, whilst Morley Street was pulled up after four hurdles. Eleven of the fifteen runners completed the course.[1]
Race details
- Sponsor: Smurfit
- Purse: £166,742; First prize: £99,933
- Going: Good to Soft
- Distance: 2 miles 110 yards
- Number of runners: 15
- Winner's time: 4m 02.30
Full result
| Pos. | Marg. | Horse (bred) | Age | Jockey | Trainer (Country) | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flakey Dove (GB) | 8 | Mark Dwyer | Richard Price (GB) | 9/1 | |
| 2 | 1½ | Oh So Risky (GB) | 7 | Paul Holley | David Elsworth (GB) | 9/4 fav |
| 3 | ¾ | Large Action (IRE) | 6 | Jamie Osborne | Oliver Sherwood (GB) | 8/1 |
| 4 | 4½ | Mole Board (GB) | 12 | Tom Grantham | Jim Old (GB) | 40/1 |
| 5 | 5 | Absalom's Lady (GB) | 6 | Simon McNeill | David Elsworth (GB) | 33/1 |
| 6 | nk | Muse (GB) | 7 | Mark Richards | David Elsworth (GB) | 13/2 |
| 7 | 3½ | Granville Again (GB) | 8 | Jimmy Frost | Martin Pipe (GB) | 10/1 |
| 8 | 2½ | Shawiya (IRE) | 5 | Charlie Swan | M. J. P. O'Brien (IRE) | 16/1 |
| 9 | 4 | Halkopous (GB) | 8 | Declan Murphy | Mark Tompkins (GB) | 13/2 |
| 10 | 25 | Valfinet (FR) | 7 | Jonothon Lower | Martin Pipe (GB) | 33/1 |
| 11 | 7 | High Baron (GB) | 7 | Michael Hourigan | Robert Alner (GB) | 66/1 |
| Fell | Merchant House (IRE) | 6 | Richard Guest | R. J. Weaver (GB) | 250/1 | |
| Fell | Land Afar (GB) | 7 | Warren Marston | John Webber (GB) | 25/1 | |
| PU | Morley Street (GB) | 10 | Graham Bradley | Toby Balding (GB) | 16/1 | |
| PU | King Credo (GB) | 9 | Adrian Maguire | Steve Woodman (GB) | 16/1 |
- Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider; PU = pulled up; LFT = left at start; SU = slipped up; BD = brought down
Winner's details
Further details of the winner, Flakey Dove
- Sex: Mare
- Foaled: 1986
- Country: United Kingdom
- Sire: Oats; Dam: Shadey Dove (Deadly Nightshade)
- Owner: J. T. Price
- Breeder: J. T. Price