Festival Fever | Timeform Cheltenham Greats: Istabraq

ISTABRAQ

(David Ord)

Istabraq. The mere name conjures up images of Charlie Swan punching the air, stood upright in the irons as those crammed around the winners’ enclosure at Cheltenham erupt in adoration as their hero returns in triumph.

They all got plenty of practice. Four times the horse that began life as a Hamdan Al Maktoum stayer on the Flat won there, three times in the Champion Hurdle.

JP McManus bought him on the recommendation of John Durkan who was to train the gelding. Tragically he was struck down by leukaemia before he was able to set up as planned in Newmarket.

He suggested Istabraq went to Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle and the horse he was hoping to build a career around became a National Hunt legend. Durkan died in January 1988, having listened to the horse’s win in the then Sun Alliance Novices’ Hurdle on the telephone the previous March.

By that stage the son of Sadler’s Wells looked to be a top-class stayer in the making but come the following spring he was an Irish Champion Hurdle winner and 3/1 to add the British version to a growing CV.

It was never in doubt after he went to the front three out and put the rest to the sword.

Stablemate Theatreworld threaded his way through the pack to claim second – as he did the following year too. By then Istabraq was dominating the division in a way only the greats can.

A 4/9 chance, he barely left the bridle before putting the race to bed going to the last to win by three-and-a-half lengths. The darling of Cheltenham was roared home from his huge and growing band of disciples.

In 2000 he was arguably even more impressive, leading on the bit at the last before drawing four lengths clear of Hors La Loi III.

That rival was to win the next Champion – run in 2002 – after the foot and mouth outbreak robbed Istabraq of what looked like being a fourth successive win in the great race.

He was there a year later but the fire was starting to fade. O’Brien and his team had struggled to keep the wheels on through the campaign. The writing was on the wall soon after the first flight at Cheltenham, Swan felt his brother in arms lose his action and shortly after the next obstacle the game was up. Before they headed out for the circuit of Prestbury Park he’d devoured so powerfully at the four previous Festivals, Istabraq was pulled up.

And then it happened. Spontaneous applause broke out in the stands, building momentum and sound. From the Guinness Village to the panoramic restaurants they rose to salute a champion.

It was a celebration, not of one glorious final farewell victory, but of what had gone before. He was bowing out at the scene of his greatest triumphs, in front of his adoring public.

In terms of raw ability there have been better Champion Hurdlers than Istabraq. The generation he ruled wasn’t a vintage one – but he was a champion who resonated way beyond ratings and formlines.

He was trained by a man who for the last 20 years has changed the landscape of Flat racing, impeccably plotting the careers of champions who’ve conquered the world for a stud that has enjoyed a stranglehold on top-flight racing like never before.

But none of those millionaire bluebloods had anything like the following of Istabraq. He felt public property, a horse who whatever trials and tribulations we’d faced in the preceding 12 months, would turn up and light up the Champion Hurdle for us.

For all the hundreds of millions of euros McManus has made on the financial markets over the years, the 38,000 guineas he parted with, on John Durkan’s insistence, remains – and forever will be – his shrewdest investment.

We, fans of the sport, are eternally grateful too.

Timeform - the Champion years

1997-98 Season

Istabraq proved better than ever on his seasonal bow in the John James McManus Memorial Hurdle at Tipperary in mid-October. He handled the soft ground and drop back in distance to two miles with relish, pulling away from the smart Cockney Lad before the last to score by seven lengths. That rival had another rear view of Istabraq in the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at the end of the following month having briefly looked a threat on the home turn.

The winner made all and was well on top at the finish so connections of Cockney Lad decided to swerve a third showdown of the season over Christmas by going down the three-mile route instead at Leopardstown. This left Istabraq with little more than a schooling session at 1/6 in the December Festival Hurdle, which he won hard held from Punting Pete.

He was made to work harder next time in the A.I.G. Europe Champion Hurdle at the same track, asked for an effort on the run-in to shake off useful novice His Song after his hurdling had lacked its usual fluency in the middle part of the race. Putting the performance to one side for a moment, it was a success greeted with huge emotion following the death earlier in the week of John Durkan.

The form of that final preparation was not good enough to win a Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham but Istabraq silenced the doubters in March with a top-class effort to prevail by twelve lengths and justify 3/1 favouritism in a field of 18. A final start of the campaign saw his winning streak over hurdles halted at ten when he was narrowly denied at Liverpool over two and a half miles in the Martell Aintree Hurdle. He ran well in defeat, though, leading after the last in desperate conditions but just edged out by Pridwell, who scored under a strong drive from Tony McCoy.

Major races won:

• Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, Fairyhouse
• December Festival Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Irish Champion Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham

1998-99 Season

Istrabraq went to the racecourse seven times and won the lot without a rival looking seriously able to trouble him. His clean sweep started in the John James McManus Memorial Hurdle again at Cork in early November. Hard held after cruising to the front at the second-last, this was little more than an exercise gallop and proved he was head and shoulders above the majority over two miles. It was a similar story at the end of the month and he had any amount in hand in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle before hacking up against two rivals at 1/10 in the December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown.

His victory in the A.I.G. Europe Champion Hurdle in the 97/98 season earlier had been his least convincing ,but it was effortless this time around as he was once more hard held to dismiss French Holly by a length. The Timeform reporter on the day reflected: “He is as near a certainty for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham as it is possible to be at this stage.” Istrabraq was 4/9 when the tapes went up at the Festival in March and won by three and a half lengths from stablemate Theatreworld with French Holly a further two and half lengths back in third. The form book says he was not at his best on the day having sweated up beforehand but he quickened decisively to go clear entering the home straight and put the race to bed.

He toyed with French Holly once more at Liverpool in the Martell Aintree Hurdle and was worth considerably more than the one-length winning margin before completing a perfect campaign back on home soil by winning the Shell Champion Hurdle at Punchestown, over two miles, with plenty in hand over Decoupage.

Major races won:

• Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, Fairyhouse
• December Festival Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Irish Champion Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham
• Aintree Hurdle, Aintree
• Punchestown Champion Hurdle, Punchestown

1999-00 Season

All the usual brilliance was displayed by Istabraq on his return to action with victory in another John James McManus Memorial Hurdle at Tipperary. His four rivals could not get him off the bridle as he sprinted away from runner-up Limestone Lad after the last. It was that rival, however, who then handed Istabraq just his third defeat over timber next time when they clashed in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse. The habitual front-runner was perhaps given too much rope in conditions that suited a real test of stamina, and Istabraq’s efforts to reduce a significant advantage by the second-last took their toll. Limestone Lad had five and a half lengths in hand at the line, although Charlie Swan did ease his mount on the run-in once all chance had gone.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien seemed unconcerned and said: “I always knew he would be beaten again. We just keep him ticking over at this time of the year. There is no need to panic.” Istabraq had little trouble seeing off inferior opposition the following month in the December Festival Hurdle for a third time before also landing a hat-trick in the A.I.G. Europe Champion Hurdle by four lengths from Stage Affair. Istabraq did not have to be at his best to beat Hors La Loi by the same margin in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, where he joined a select group of just five horses to have won the race three times since 1927.

Although not hard pressed to pull clear on the run-in, there had been 11th-hour drama. A trickle of blood had been detected from one of his nostrils and his participation was only confirmed a couple of hours prior to the race as connections decided it was a nosebleed rather than something more serious. That was his last run of the season, but, given his superiority, consistency and obvious durability, hopes were high he would go on to make history and win the race for a fourth time in 2001.

Major races won:

• December Festival Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Irish Champion Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Smurfit Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham