WArkle was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, he was the grandson of the unbeaten flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was born at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath, and bred by Mrs Mary Alison Baker of Malahow House, near Naul, County Dublin. He was named after the mountain Arkle in Sutherland, Scotland that bordered the Duchess of Westminster’s Sutherland estate. Owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, he was trained by Tom Dreaper at Greenogue, Kilsallaghan in County Meath, Ireland, and ridden during his steeplechasing career by Pat Taaffe.
WBallabriggs is a retired Grand National-winning National Hunt racehorse trained by Donald McCain, Jr. in Cholmondeley, Cheshire and owned by Trevor Hemmings.
WBest Mate was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was considered one of the most loved horses in the history of horse racing in the UK, with his sudden death while racing making front-page news.
WBig Buck's is a retired National Hunt racehorse trained in Britain by Paul Nicholls. He is owned by businessman Andy Stewart and specialised in racing over hurdles. At the 2012 Cheltenham Festival, Big Buck's made history by winning 4 consecutive World Hurdles, confirming his status as the greatest staying hurdler in history. He was retired on 13 March 2014.
WBinocular, foaled on March 17, 2004 in France, is a French thoroughbred retired racehorse. He was sired by Enrique out of the mare Bleu Ciel Et Blanc. He is owned by J. P. McManus and trained by Nicky Henderson. His primary jockey is Tony McCoy.
WBobs Worth is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He has won the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in 2011, the RSA Chase in 2012 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2013 at the Cheltenham Festival, making him the first horse since Flyingbolt in the 1960s to win three different races at consecutive Cheltenham Festivals. In 2012, he also won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. Bobs Worth is trained by Nicky Henderson, owned by the Not Afraid Partnership.
WBrave Inca is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from March 2002 until April 2009, he ran thirty-five times and won 15 races, ten of them at Grade I level. including the 2006 Champion Hurdle. From 2005 until he was retired, Brava Inca ran in sixteen successive Grade I races.
WChampagne Fever is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is noted for his front-running style and has won seven of his thirteen races. After beginning his racing career on the amateur point-to-point circuit he became the dominant National Hunt Flat performer in Britain and Ireland in 2012, winning the Champion Bumper and the Champion INH Flat Race. In the following season he was campaigned in novice hurdle races and won two more Grade I races, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle in Ireland and Supreme Novices' Hurdle in England. In his first season over steeplechase fences he won one minor race and finished second in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and in the following year he added win in the Clonmel Oil Chase and Red Mills Chase.
WCue Card is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist steeplechaser, he has won fifteen of his thirty-three races, including nine at Grade I level.
WDenman was an Irish-bred National Hunt racehorse sired by Presenting. Known as The Tank, Denman was widely known for his great rivalry with Kauto Star for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This large horse with a front-running style won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2008.
WDesert Orchid, known as Dessie, was an English racehorse. The grey achieved a revered and esteemed status within National Hunt racing, where he was much loved by supporters for his front-running attacking style, iron will and extreme versatility. He was rated the fifth best National Hunt horse of all time by Timeform. During his racing career he was partnered by five different jump jockeys: Colin Brown, Richard Linley, Simon Sherwood, Graham Bradley and Richard Dunwoody.
WDodging Bullets is a British Thoroughbred racehorse, best known for his performances in National Hunt races. Bred by the leading jockey Frankie Dettori he had a flat racing career of limited importance, winning two minor races from nine starts as a three-year-old in 2011. He showed better form when switched to hurdles, winning the Sharp Novices' Hurdle in 2012. He proved even better when he began to compete in steeplechases, winning the November Novices' Chase and the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase in 2013. In the 2014/2015 National Hunt season he emerged as one of the best chasers in Britain, recording three consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Tingle Creek Chase, Clarence House Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase.
WDouvan is a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He was originally trained in France before moving to Ireland in the summer of 2014. After finishing second on his debut he won his remaining five races over hurdles including the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following year he was switched to steeplechasing and won all his six races over fences as a novice including the Racing Post Novice Chase, Arkle Novice Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy, Maghull Novices' Chase and Ryanair Novice Chase. In the 2016–17 season he continued his unbeaten run in steeplechases by winning his first three starts, including the Grade One Paddy Power Cashcard Chase, before suffering his first defeat over fences when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
WEdredon Bleu was an AQPS National Hunt racehorse. He was bred in France but trained for most of his racing career in the United Kingdom. He was a specialist steeplechaser who recorded most of his wins over two and two-and-a-half miles, but was capable of winning major races over longer distances. In a ten-year racing career he ran fifty-seven times and won twenty-five races. His most important successes when winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2000 and the King George VI Chase in 2003.
WFinian's Rainbow is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He has won ten of his fifteen starts, including the Maghull Novices' Chase, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Melling Chase. He is owned by Michael Buckley, trained by Nicky Henderson and has been ridden by Barry Geraghty in all but one of his races.
WFiveforthree was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In a racing career which was frequently interrupted by injury, he won six of his fourteen races between February 2007 and April 2013. After showing promise in National Hunt Flat races in Ireland, he recorded his first major success when winning the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle at the 2008 Cheltenham Festival. In the following season he made only three starts but won the Grade I World Series Hurdle at Punchestown Racecourse. Plans to campaign the horse in steeplechases never came to fruition as training problems restricted him to four races in the next four years.
WFlyingbolt was a famous racehorse. Officially he is the second best National Hunt racehorse of all time, after Arkle. A comparison of their merits is probably best illustrated by the Official Steeplechase Handicapper, who at the end of the 1965-1966 season rated Arkle the superior by only 1 lb (0.5 kg). Timeform, the highly respected racing publication, had a difference of 2 lbs between them. As a hurdler, Flyingbolt was the best Tom Dreaper ever trained. His wins included the Gloucestershire Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Scalp Hurdle at Leopardstown. He also finished third in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. Flyingbolt and Arkle never met on the race track, mainly because they were trained by the same man and he preferred to keep them apart.
WGo Native was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse, born to sire Double Eclipse and dam Native Idea. He was owned by Docado Syndicate, trained by Noel Meade, and his primary jockey has been Paul Carberry. He was purchased by the Docado Syndicate for £25,000 from horse dealer Martin Cullinane. As of March 21, 2009, Go Native’s career record stands at 8 wins, 4 places and 0 shows, with 3 of his wins coming in Grade 1 Hurdle races. He has amassed £310,254 in lifetime earnings.
WGolden Cygnet was a racehorse who was described in the 1979 Irish Racing Annual by legendary Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien as "the best hurdler I've ever seen." His hurdling career lasted less than 5 months, as a result of the fatal injury he sustained in the 1978 Scottish Champion Hurdle.
WGolden Miller (1927–1957) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who is the most successful Cheltenham Gold Cup horse ever, winning the race in five consecutive years between 1932 and 1936. He also is the only horse to win both of the United Kingdom's premier steeplechase races - the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National - in the same year (1934).
WHardy Eustace is a retired thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the Champion Hurdle in 2004 and 2005. He was trained in Ireland by Dessie Hughes and owned by Laurence Byrne.
WHunt Ball is a popular Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred in Ireland and originally trained in Great Britain. His most noted success to date was winning the Centenary Novices' Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March 2012.
WHurricane Fly is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle races when under the care of trainer Willie Mullins at Closutton in County Carlow in Ireland. He is a dual winner of the Champion Hurdle and previously held the world record for most Grade 1 races won by any racehorse until overtaken by Winx in 2019. Originally bred to be a flat racer, the gelding began his racing career in France where he had moderate success, winning twice in ten races. At the end of 2007 he was sold and transferred to Ireland where he began to compete in National Hunt events. On 15 March 2011, Hurricane Fly ridden by Ruby Walsh won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. After finishing third in the 2012 renewal, he became the first horse in thirty-eight years to regain the Champion Hurdle title by winning the race for a second time in 2013. On 26 April 2013 he had his 16th Grade 1 victory in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle equalling the record for Grade 1 wins previously shared by Kauto Star and John Henry. He took sole possession of the record when winning the Morgiana Hurdle on 17 November 2013. He added a further five wins at the highest level before being retired with a record total of 22 such wins in August 2015. That total was equalled by Winx when she won the WS Cox Plate on 27 October 2018.
WInglis Drever was a champion racehorse trained in the North of England by Howard Johnson. He was one of the most successful hurdle racing horses to date and won the World Hurdle three times, bettered only by the former champion Big Buck's. He is seen by many as having been the greatest staying hurdler of all time.
WKatchit was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse, the peak of whose flat racing and hurdling career came in 2008 when, against the odds, he won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Katchit was a moderate flat racer, winning only once in sixteen races. In his first two seasons as a hurdler however, he showed great improvement, winning ten times between September 2006 and March 2008. He won the Triumph Hurdle in 2007 and the Championship a year later. No Triumph Hurdle winner had gone on to win the Champion Hurdle since Kribensis in 1990, and 73 five-year-olds had been beaten in the race since See You Then registered the last five-year-old success in 1985. His later career was affected by injury and he never won again.
WKauto Star was a French-bred National Hunt champion racehorse trained by Paul Nicholls in Somerset and owned by Clive Smith. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009, becoming the first horse to regain the cup after losing it in 2008 by seven lengths behind Denman. He tried for three more years to win the race again, but the best placing he could achieve was in 2011, coming third behind Long Run. He also won the King George VI Chase a record five times. He was one of the most successful steeplechasers of modern era finishing his racing career with a National Hunt record of £3,775,883 in earnings, which consisted of £2,375,883 in race prize money, £1,000,000 bonus for the completion of the 2006/2007 Stayers Chase Triple Crown and also a £400,000 reward for heading the BHA Table of Merit in the same 2006/2007 season.
WLord Windermere is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is a successful steeplechaser, winning the RSA Chase in 2013 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2014.
WMaster Minded is a French bred National Hunt racehorse who was trained in Great Britain by Paul Nicholls.
WMore Of That is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. After winning his only race as a novice he won two handicaps and the Grade II Relkeel Hurdle before taking the Grade I World Hurdle at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival.
WMoscow Flyer was a top-class National Hunt horse over distances between 2 miles and 2½ miles (3.2–4 km). He won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2003 and 2005, the Tingle Creek Chase in 2003 and 2004 and the Arkle Challenge Trophy in 2002.
WNichols Canyon was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in National Hunt races. He showed good form on the flat before emerging as an outstanding performer in hurdle races. In his first two seasons of competition he raced on the flat and won three of his ten races including the Noel Murless Stakes and the Prix Denisy as well as finishing second in the St Simon Stakes.
WOur Conor was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle racing. As a four-year-old he won the Grade I Spring Juvenile Hurdle and then recorded an impressive fifteen-length win in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. A year later he was fatally injured when falling in the Champion Hurdle.
WPunjabi is a British Thoroughbred racehorse, born to sire, Komatie and dam, Competa. Punjabi started racing as a three-year-old in 2005. He won his first race, a Class 6, in May 2006 at Newcastle Racecourse in Newcastle, England.
WQuevega is a retired French-bred Irish-trained National Hunt mare, best known for winning the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival a record six times in a row, beating the previous record set by Golden Miller's five consecutive Gold Cups in the 1930s. She also won the World Series Hurdle over three miles four times, but was beaten in her attempt at a fifth successive win at the 2014 Festival.
WRock On Ruby, is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist hurdler he is best known for his performances in the 2011–2012 National Hunt season, when he won the Gerry Feilden Hurdle at Newbury in November before winning Britain's most prestigious hurdle race, the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on 13 March. After failing to make a mark as a steeplechaser he returned to hurdling and won the Relkeel Hurdle in 2014 and the Ascot Hurdle in 2015.
WRooster Booster (1994–2005) was a British-bred thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the 2003 Champion Hurdle.
WSimonsig was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He won eight of his 13 races and was best known for winning the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival and the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the 2013 Festival. He was owned by Ronnie Bartlett and trained by Nicky Henderson.
WSire de Grugy is a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. He showed promise in his early career, winning the Dovecote Novices' Hurdle at Kempton Park Racecourse in 2011 and emerged as a top class performer with a win in the Celebration Chase in April 2013. In the 2013–14 National Hunt season he established himself as the leading two-mile steeplechaser in Britain, winning the Tingle Creek Chase, Desert Orchid Chase, Clarence House Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He continued to run in top-class two-mile steeplechases without fully recapturing his 2013–14 form, winning one race in each of the following three seasons including a second win in the Tingle Creek Chase, before being retired in December 2017.
WSpecial Tiara was a British-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. He specialised in steeplechases over the minimum distance of two miles and was a confirmed front-runner who usually attempted to lead from the start. He scored his first major success in 2013 when he won the Maghull Novices' Chase and went on to win the Celebration Chase in 2015 and two editions of the Desert Orchid Chase. In March 2017 he recorded his biggest success when he took the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the fourth attempt. He was euthanized after sustaining an injury in the 2019 Dublin Chase at Leopardstown.
WSprinter Sacre, is a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse. He currently has the third highest ever Timeform steeplechase rating of 192p, behind only Arkle on 212 and Flyingbolt on 210 as their highest in the modern era.
WSublimity was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse whose Flat racing and hurdling career was highlighted in 2007 when he won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. By Selkirk and out of Fig Tree Drive, Sublimity is owned by the late Bill Hennessy and trained by his son Robert Alan Hennessy in Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland.
WThe New One was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career running from November 2011 to December 2018 he ran in 40 races, winning 20 times, being placed a further nine times and earning over £1,000,000 in win and place prize money. In the 2011/2012 National Hunt season he won three of his four races when competing in National Hunt Flat races including the Champion Standard Open NH Flat Race at Aintree Racecourse. In the following year, competing over hurdles, he won four of his six starts including the Leamington Novices' Hurdle and the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. In the following season he won the International Hurdle and finished third in Champion Hurdle before winning the Aintree Hurdle. In the 2014/15 season he won his first four races including a second International Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle Trial. He went on to win three more Champion Hurdle Trials, a third International Hurdle and a Welsh Champion Hurdle. The New One was retired after being pulled up in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham on 15 December 2018.
WThistlecrack is a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt races. Unraced until he was five years old, he recorded his first win in a National Hunt Flat race in 2014. In the 2014/15 National Hunt season he won two minor hurdle races before improving when tried over long distances and winning the Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle. In the following season he established himself as the best staying hurdler in Britain with wins in the Long Distance Hurdle, Long Walk Hurdle, Cleeve Hurdle, World Hurdle and Liverpool Hurdle. When switched to steeplechasing in the following season he made an immediate impact, taking the Worcester Novices' Chase before beating more experienced horses in the King George VI Chase.
WTidal Bay is an Irish bred Bay gelding Thoroughbred race horse foaled on 12 May 2001. He was the winner of two Grade 1 jumps races, the Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Maghull Novices' Chase in 2008. Trained by initially by Howard Johnson and subsequently by Paul Nicholls and owned by Graham and Andrea Wylie, he was bred by John Dorgan.
WTiger Roll is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing and won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019. He has also won four times at the Cheltenham Festival: the Triumph Hurdle in 2014, the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in 2017 and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2018 and 2019.
WTrabolgan is a retired, Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In a racing career which was seriously disrupted by injuries and other health problems, he won five times from seventeen starts between December 2002 and March 2010. After showing promising, but unremarkable form in his early career he showed great improvement when switched to steeplechasing in the autumn of 2004. In March 2005 at Cheltenham Racecourse he won the Grade I Royal & SunAlliance Chase, one of the season's most prestigious races for Novice chasers. On his next appearance in November 2005, he won the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup under the biggest weights carried to victory in the race for twenty years. At the time, he was regarded as one of the best steeplechasers in training, but he never won again: he missed the next three years with injury and failed to recover his form when returning to the track.
WUn de Sceaux is a French-bred AQPS racehorse who completed in National Hunt racing. After winning both his races in France he was transferred to Ireland where he won two novice hurdles. In the 2013/14 National Hunt season he was undefeated in five races including the Red Mills Trial Hurdle in Ireland and both the Prix Hypothese and the Prix Leon Rambaud in France. When switched to steeplechases he recovered from a fall on his debut to win the Arkle Novice Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy and Ryanair Novice Chase in the 2014–15 season. In 2015–16 he won the Clarence House Chase but was beaten by Sprinter Sacre when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase in what was his first defeat when completing a steeplechase. He began the 2016–17 with a win in the Tingle Creek Chase and followed up with his second victory in the Clarence House Chase before taking the Ryanair Chase in March. In 2018 Un de Sceaux became the first horse in history to win three Clarence House chases but was disappointed in Cheltenham by Balko des Flos when attempting to regain his Ryanair crown. He finished the season on a high by winning the devenish chase at Fairyhouse before surprising his stablemate Douvan at Punchestown under Patrick Mullins. At this stage of his career Un de Sceaux has won 9 Grade ones and has earned over 1,300,000 in prize money.
WVautour was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and won three times at the Cheltenham Festival. After beginning his racing career in France he moved to Ireland and made an immediate impact over hurdles in the spring of 2014 winning the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Tattersalls Champion Novice Hurdle.
WWell Chief was a German-bred race horse who was trained in Britain by David Pipe and owned by David Johnson.
WZarkandar is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. A half-brother to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Zarkava he won one of his three flat races before being gelded and becoming a specialist hurdler. He was the best juvenile hurdler of the 2010/2011 National Hunt season when he won the Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle, Triumph Hurdle and Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle. In the following season he won the Betfair Hurdle but finished unplaced in the Champion Hurdle. In the 2012/2013 he won the Elite Hurdle, International Hurdle, Kingwell Hurdle and Aintree Hurdle, although he again ran disappointingly in the Champion Hurdle. He failed to win when campaigned over longer distances in 2013/2014 but began his next season by winning the Grand Prix d'Automne in France. He continued to compete in Graded hurdle races, winning the Rendlesham Hurdle in February 2017 and was retired the following year. He won 11 of his 35 races and earned over £900,000 in prize money.