Ollie Magern Retired

Nigel Twiston-Davies' popular chaser Ollie Magern has been retired reports the Racing Post here

For me Ollie Magern epitomised all that is great about steeplechasing, particularly at his beloved Wetherby. A bold, front-running bay gelding, he won 13 of his 59 starts and collected £386,861 in prize money for connections. A decent hurdler, it was the transition to fences which really bought the best out of him. He won his first 3 novice chases at Stratford, Fakenham and Cheltenham (where he beat subsequent Grand National winner Comply Or Die), on each occaision spreadeagling his field from the front. He was then narrowly beaten in open handicap company in the Paddy Power and Hennessy, both times in the places behind Celestial Gold - a fantastic performance for a novice.

His finest hour as a novice, however, was still to come. In front of the packed Grandstands at Kempton over christmas he fought out a stirring finish to the Feltham with Trabolgan and after being headed at the last he fought back tenaciously to get his head back in front on the line. Later that season he finished a fine second in the Ascot Chase but missed the festival through injury. He started next season at the scene of so many triumphs by taking his first Charlie Hall chase but afterwards had his limitations exposed at the very highest level behind the likes of Kauto Star, Denman et al. Despite retaining his ability wins were few and far between and a second Charlie Hall was the highlight of 2007 before a long winless streak which included a second fence fall in Mon Mome's Grand National.

His last victory came in May 2010 with a typical gutsy front-running performance to take the Perth Gold Cup Handicap Chase off 11-8 and a lacklustre performance in a Hunter Chase a couple of weeks ago persuaded connections it was time to draw stumps.

Have a happy and long retirement Ollie, you are a genuine chasing hero