Istabraq, three-time Champion Hurdle winner, dies at age of 32

Istabraq, one of the all-time great hurdlers in jump racing history, has died at the age of 32, his owner JP McManus has announced.

In a statement issued on Thursday, McManus said: “Sadly, Istabraq passed away at 1.15am this morning at the ripe old age of 32. He was a very special horse who gave us many great days of fun and enjoyment.

“Our thanks to Lara Hegarty, Johnny O’Brien and all the staff at the Martinstown stud who took such fantastic care of him over many years. We are pleased that we gave him a good celebration for his most recent birthday in May. He leaves Noreen, myself and the family with wonderful memories.”

Charlie Swan, who was ever-present in the saddle aboard Istabraq during his jumping career, has fond memories of the hurdling great. He said: “It’s a sad day, but I suppose he had a great innings; he was 32, and he was looked after like a king at Martinstown, as he deserved.

“I had some great days and I suppose winning the third Champion Hurdle is the one that sticks out. It hadn’t been done many times and that was a special day. His jumping was so good – he was so quick to get his front legs out and was very accurate.

“He obviously had loads of speed but he stayed well and jumped – he had everything really. And you could ride him any way you wanted.”

Istabraq as a son of the great sire Sadler’s Wells and out of a dam by the best American horse of all-time, Secretariat, was bred to be a champion on the Flat and started off with Newmarket trainer John Gosden, winning lowly rated contests at Salisbury and Ayr in 1995.

However, after being bought by McManus for 38,000 guineas he was transferred to be trained in Ireland over hurdles by John Durkan. When Durkan became ill, eventually dying of leukaemia in 1998 at the age of 31, he was sent to the Aidan O’Brien yard.

Istabraq was transformed racing over two miles and with eight hurdles to clear. In all he won won 23 of his 29 races over obstacles, most famously becoming the fifth horse to win three Champion Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival in 2000.

He also won the 1997 Royal Sunalliance Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham as well as four Irish Champion Hurdles, two Hatton’s Grace Hurdles and an Aintree Hurdle over the course of his glittering career.

182 Night Nurse

180 Istabraq, Monksfield

179 Persian War

178 Comedy of Errors
177 Lanzarote, Limestone Lad, Constitution Hill (profile to follow at end of career)

176 Bird's Nest, Bula, Faugheen, Golden Cygnet

175 Baracouda, Gaye Brief, Salmon Spray, Sea Pigeon

O’Brien told the Racing Post: “We were down there for his [32nd] birthday and it was incredible to see him. He was treated like an absolute God through every part of his life really and he seemed super that day. The amount of letters and the visitors and everything. People who are at the coal face in racing now, when they were growing up Istabraq was in his prime, so you would still hear people talking about him. He was kind of an almost mystical character really and it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to get a horse like him.”

The trainer also had words of remembrance for Durcan in his euolgy for the horse, stating: “We also have to remember John – it was well known that we were kind of looking after him for John. JP and Noreen bought him for John to train.”

The respected horse racing organisation Timeform rated the horse the joint second-best hurdler ever and within 2lb of their top-rated runner Night Nurse, who was the best of a golden era of hurdlers that competed against each other in the 1970s.

His racing days came to an end after being pulled up in his bid for a fourth Champion Hurdle success at Cheltenham in 2002 and he enjoyed a long and happy retirement at McManus’s stud in County Limerick.