As title says, great servant to racing, enjoy the rest. Maybe one for Beef, Fly or Run who was the best Hurricane?
Cracker of a horse. Heart of a Lion and given his injury issues before he finally made it to Cheltenham, it is remarkable what he achieved. Beating Jezki last year again at his age was outstanding and he is right up there with the names in history no matter how you look at it. Hope he has a great retirement.
Epitomises what a true champion must possess. Longevity, versatility, courage, speed, class and stamina. He was the complete package and perhaps most tellingly, he'd heart in bucketloads too, which he needed towards the end of his stellar career. Done what shouldn't have been possible year in, year out. A true legend of the game. Hope he has a long retirement, for the years of enjoyment he gave us, he richly deserves it.
A superb horse, a true great, legend, superstar. I guess everyone has their favourite memory of him, for me it would be the 2011 Rabobank Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown festival. Maybe not the best field he ever met but he won with such authority and class, an absolutely flawless performance to round off a "season of all seasons" as Dessie called it. I wish him a long and happy retirement.
Right move and he deserves a long happy retirement, terrific achievement with all those grade 1's and I'm glad I was present to view a good few of those successes. Certainly would never be a paddock pick but he has the heart of a lion and he battled so well in all of his race's. Well done Hurricane Fly.
Absolute star of a racehorse who was responsible for one of my best and worst days at the races. Best was at the Punchy festival when he absolutely murdered Binocular on the bridle. Worst was when he got beaten by Rock On Ruby at Cheltenham. Glad he's been retired as he had nothing left to prove.
Just a top, top horse... May he have a very happy retirement... 22 G1's... Some record that isn't it...
Well what a ****ing horse he was! He had as beefy said (sorry for repeating) the heart of a lion, he absolutely loved a battle and if you had stupidly backed against him and he was up there over the last with your horse you know the money was gone! He was an absolute legend to the NH game and racing as a whole ! His early career was blighted by injury but for a horse to come back that was in his early career 'fragile' and to race like he did once in a lifetime a bit has to go to the master WM and the way he trained him but it was mainly down to the horse fast ground good ground or even a bog it didn't matter to him! He was a True Horse with a big heart and True Champion with winning all he knew!! Happy Retirement Champ!
best hurdler ive seen, another top class graduate of the flat racing academy Ill never forget the day he won the listed Prix Omnium over 1m at Saint Cloud, beating none other than future French Derby runner up and Group 1 Champion Stakes winner Literato and future Arlington Million winner Spirit One. Those national hunt horses had no chance. The one that stands out to me is the Christmas Leopardstown G1 Novice hurdle where he destroyed Go Native 10L, never seen a more electric performance over hurdles because I knew how good Go Native was.
Am glad to see that he got out of the game in one piece and really hope that he has the very, very best of retirements. Really do believe that, in this instance, the owners have chosen the correct time to ‘draw stumps’ and for this they should be congratulated. Much of Hurricane Fly’s career was, of course, linked to my old fave, Binocular and it is through him that I’ve viewed an awful lot of his career. As I said many times before in my view Mr Henderson’s superstar was very unlucky not to win 4 Champion Hurdle’s (THAT man stuffed up in 2 renewals and he was robbed from running in another due to those ‘unfortunate circumstances’). In my opinion Hurricane Fly won 1.5 Champion Hurdles as the 2011 event really should be ‘asterisked’ in the record books and after the Irish runners name should be detailed ‘Binocular was unable to take part due to those unfortunate circumstances’. Even allowing him 2 Champion Hurdle’s Hurricane Fly’s success rate at the Festival is only 40% and he has not achieved therefore anywhere near the Festival strike rate of a Big Bucks, Istrabraq, Best Mate, See You Then or dare I say it, Arkle. Although counterbalancing this argument you could say that the Ruby boy stuffed up in one Champion Hurdle (when Noel ‘Touchy’ Fehily rode a brilliant race and made him and THAT man look very foolish) and in 2015 perhaps Anno Dominie had finally caught up with him. But I really shouldn’t be dissing him, at this time. Have a happy retirement, old boy.
Amazing racehorse that I have had the pleasure of seeing on numerous occasions, a very long retirement is what I wish for him now. He never lit up a parade ring when I saw him, but as soon as he got racing, it was a different story. As others have said, he had heart and he was also brilliantly campaigned. Longevity and brilliance, the epitomy of a NH superstar.
Totally agree. Whilst some of his Group 1s were penalty kicks, some of the things he did to quality animals were exceptional. For a little horse like him, to achieve what he has achieved is unbelievable in a sport that requires heart. Compare him to Faugheen in size for example, unbelievable. Interestingly they both stayed 3m....a key trait for the modern Champion?
He was described as “the horse of a generation” by Willie Mullins in the Racing Post and he had an incredible record over his career and brought pleasure to NH followers on both sides of the Irish Sea, consistently winning at the highest level. According to Beefy he was a true champion. I am sure that he will be able to explain how a horse that was defeated eight times in thirty-two starts over obstacles can be a champion when, according to his own maxim, neither the 2015 Derby winner or the 2015 American Triple Crown winner can be champions because both of them have been beaten. Surely he is only a Leopardstown champion as he went unbeaten there.
When did I say in my critique that for a horse to be proclaimed a 'true champion' they had to be unbeaten? I'll help you out here, I didn't. A racehorse can become a champion, lose their crown and become a 'true champion' by regaining it. In Hurricane Fly's case against a completely new generation of horses with much younger legs. Kauto Star had an even worse win ratio than the Fly but only a complete mug wouldn't categorise Hurricane Fly or Kauto Star as true greats, both absolute legends of their sport. Both lost but both came back to regain their crowns. A better comparison from the Flat was Sea the Stars. As Aussie Jim McGrath said 'He's a champion alright'. Beaten on debut but again that didn't stop him becoming a great. Ali was beaten many times in boxing, again, a true champion of his sport. An unbeaten record isn't the sole criteria to become a true champion. I never said it was, so not sure where you got that from? The two horses you brought up had done nothing to suggest they were true champions, the evidence was very scant to suggest they were anything other than simply ahead of their peers, who simply may not be that great anyway. In relation to Golden Horn I think he beat rubbish in the Derby, with the possible exception of Jack Hobbs, whose that 'great' he's contesting that maker of champions the Group 3 September Stakes on the all weather today. They must be looking to cement his legacy You're obviously still annoyed that Lambourns finest got brought down by a 108 odd rated filly at York. You'd want to see him win in some style next week over at Leopardstown or else you're comparisons with great horses will look even dafter than it does already. Can a bubble get burst twice?!
Golden Horn and American Pharoah are clearly 3yo champions of their generation despite defeats where neither were quite at their best but with no excuses on the day. Id give both a chance to bounce back, I dont think Golden Horn is one of the greats, never did, just a good Group 1 horse. American Pharoah winning the triple crown has in my opinion put him up with the best in American history, hes no Secretariat but hes on that next level down. I agree about the hype though from America but thats to be expected, just look at Zenyatta. Ran against one Grade 1 dirt horse in 20 starts and lost, beating up grade 3 fillies on that synthetic she loved for years. She was a special horse but achievements fall way short of the best.
