Istabraq unquestionably one of the all-time National Hunt heroes

Molly Hunter
July 25, 2024 1:38 pm

Three-time Champion Hurdle winner at Cheltenham had incredible talent.

Istabraq was a National Hunt racing icon, a horse universally loved and admired across the sport for his consistency, durability and pure talent.

A son of Sadler’s Wells out of a Secretariat mare, the bay was bred by Shadwell and started life on the Flat under the care of John Gosden.

His career on the level was not without success and yielded two wins from 11 starts, but it was when he turned his hand to hurdling that his star instantly began to rise.

The late John Durkan was Istabraq’s intended trainer after JP McManus purchased the horse, but Durkan’s leukaemia diagnosis and subsequent death meant Aidan O’Brien ended up guiding him through his jumping career.

At the time, O’Brien was a young man beginning to make a real mark under both codes, Istabraq’s successes followed a breakthrough at Group level on the Flat and proved beyond all doubt the remarkable horsemanship of the trainer.

Charlie Swan and Istabraq winning the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham (David Jones/PA)

Beaten just a head under Charlie Swan on his hurdling debut, Istabraq then began a novice-season winning streak that included five Graded races and peaked with victory in both the Royal Sunalliance Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

Swan retained the ride all throughout the horse’s career and when he returned in open company the following season, the partnership still proved to be nearly unbeatable, storming through the fixture list undefeated up until his superb 12-length Champion Hurdle triumph.

He finally met with defeat when beaten just a head in the Aintree Hurdle, but the winning thread was swiftly regained the following season and he soared through the campaign to prevail each and every time – achieving a Grade One four-timer that included the Champion Hurdle races at Leopardstown, Cheltenham and Punchestown, plus retribution in the Aintree Hurdle.

He took the same route the following season, with the exception of Aintree, and again his supremacy was undeniable as he reliably turned up and won with minimal fuss – establishing himself as a truly great racehorse and one of only a handful to land three Champion Hurdle triumphs.

His 2000-2001 season was interrupted by uncharacteristic falls in the Festival Hurdle and the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown, with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease scuppering his bid for a record-breaking fourth Champion Hurdle title at the Cheltenham Festival.

Istabraq and Swan winning the Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown (Chris Bacon/PA)

He did win the Leopardstown Champion Hurdle in between times, however, and returned in December 2001 to take the Festival Hurdle for a fourth time before pulling up on his last start in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham later that season.

He spent his retirement at his owner’s Martinstown Stud, doted on for more than two decades and revered as one of the all-time greats of not only the hurdling division, but the sport in general.

His birthday was always celebrated by his owners and in May this year he turned 32, a ripe old age and one that eventually took its toll when he died in the early hours of the morning on July 25.

He will be remembered as the outstanding horse of his time and mentioned in any debate about the best hurdlers to ever grace the sport, his legacy being so significant that passengers using Terminal 2 at Dublin airport are met with his likeness immortalised on canvas.