Pride of Ireland Istabraq remains the yardstick of racing greatness

The winner of hurdling's blue riband crown for three successive years, culminating in an emotional hat-trick a decade ago, the pride of Ireland's record speaks for itself.

Only the catastrophic foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001 stood between the mighty Istabraq and a four-timer in hurdling's premier race.

When he reappeared in 2002, he was out-of-sorts, past his prime – and mercifully pulled up, unscathed, by jockey Charlie Swan after two flights.

The impromptu ovation from raceogers – most of whom had backed the horse out of unswerving loyalty – spoke volumes.

"He's the horse that all hurdlers are judged against – and I don't see another Istabraq among the current crop," said Yorkshire trainer Ferdy Murphy who tried, and failed, to dethrone the champion.

"There's a big difference between being a good hurdler – and a great horse. Istabraq was great; I can hardly believe now that it's 10 years."

Included in the former category is Punjabi, the reigning champion whose scheduled reappearance today in the Welsh Champion Hurdle was postponed following the cancellation of the Ffos Las card.

The best of trainer Nicky Henderson's multitude of hurdlers, his Cheltenham win was perhaps more memorable for the way that he outbattled Celestial Halo and well-fancied stablemate Binocular.

Contrast this with Istabraq – a horse who usually won at a canter to the delight of Irish racegoers bedecked in his green and gold colours.

Yet, incredibly, this remarkable horse was almost written off after his very first race at Doncaster on November 4, 1994.

No-one present on Town Moor for division one of the EBF Flanders Maiden Stake could have foreseen the eighth-placed horse – he lost ground at the start – that they had witnessed a future immortal.

Trained by John Gosden – with owner Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum hopeful that he had a Derby contender – jockey Gary Hind summed up the mood after the seven-furlong race: "At the time Istabraq was just another ride."

Sired by the great Sadler's Well, this was a horse supposedly bred to win the Flat classics. The Dubai Sheikh had high expectations, but it was not going to form – or the breeding book.

Former champion jockey Willie Carson was even less complimentary the following April when he rode Istabraq in his second race; this time at Kempton. "No experience, no pace," recalled the acerbic BBC pundit.

Carson was to later win at Salisbury on Istabraq – the word silk in modern Arabic – before finishing second to Frankie Dettori's Celeric at the Batley's Cash & Carry Handicap at York in August, 2005.

Again, greatness did not beckon. "On the Flat, I put him down as a slow maturing type," said Carson at the time. "On occasion, I suspected his honesty…he always made hard work of things."

The transformation came when he switched to hurdles – and was bought by the legendary Irish gambler JP McManus for 38,000 guineas.

The equivalent of spare change compared to some of his more profitable betting escapades, Istabraq was originally to be trained by Gosden's assistant, John Durkan, who was setting up on his own.

His racing family have enjoyed a long – and successful association with the aforementioned Murphy, including horses like Paddy Power Gold Cup winner L'Antartique.

But, tragically, Durkan was to be struck down with incurable leukaemia and McManus asked Aidan O'Brien, then an emerging trainer, to take over the reins.

The deal was, ostensibly, for a short-term basis until Durkan had fully recovered. It was never to be. But, having identified that Istabraq was flat-footed and shaved off the bottom of his front hooves, O'Brien had a potential superstar stabled alongside his Classic thoroughbreds.

Their Cheltenham win came in March, 2007 – the Royal SunAlliance Novices Hurdle over an extended two-and-a-half miles.

Murphy believes that this was the only mistake that O'Brien made with the horse. He did not quite stay the trip, and was nearly collared on the line.

I was privileged to be at Cheltenham on that day. I recall two things. The deafening Irish roar when Istabraq hit the front at the top of the hill – and the on-course bookies being almost wiped out by an avalanche of winning bets. I have never seen so much cash exchange hands.

The Irish were convinced, there and then, that Istabraq, a bay gelding, was a superstar – but he still had to prove it in the Champion Hurdle.

His first victory came in March 1998; a 12-length formality with Malcolm Jefferson's plucky Dato Star a distant 13th.

Triumph number two came a year later when the only competition came from stablemate Theatreworld and Murphy's brilliant French Holly who was, ultimately, beaten six lengths. At 8-15 on, Istabraq was – and remains – the shortest price favourite in the illustrious race's history.

Greatness came in March, 2000 when, in only his second run of the season and having bled the previous day in his stable, Istabraq ran out a four-length winner. This time, Dato Star was sixth.

He had surpassed the feats of Yorkshire's two-time Champion Hurdle winners Sea Pigeon and Night Nurse from Peter Easterby's yard, though the latter earned a marginally higher rating than Istabraq.

Would Istabraq have beaten Night Nurse in a straight race?

One will never know; one can only speculate at whether Istabraq could have found a turn of pace in response to a scorching gallop that was Night Nurse's forte.

A very nervous horse, Istabraq used to sweat profusely in the paddock and had to be taken to the start early.

His mystery bleed, the day before his date with destiny, led to a series of frantic phone calls; O'Brien was only due to fly to Cheltenham on the day of the race. Only instinct prevailed and Istabraq took his place. "He was inclined to fret. If you were to shout at him in his stable, he would break into a sweat, but he was a natural athlete," said O'Brien.

Murphy concurs. Having won the Royal SunAlliance race with French Holly in succession to the Irish talisman, the West Witton trainer thought he, too, had a potential champion – even though he may never have been allowed back into his homeland if he had lowered Istabraq's colours.

Full of confidence after landing Kempton's prestigious Christmas Hurdle, the champion and young pretender met at Leopardstown in January, 1999 in the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle.

Istabraq won it easy; French Holly's cause not being helped by disrupted travel plans. First, the plane he was due to travel in was grounded by fog. And then he experienced a very rough sea crossing on the eve of the race.

It probably did not matter. Istabraq could always pull out the stops – as he did when the rivals reopposed two months later for the Champion Hurdle.

There was a tragic footnote. Murphy took on Istabraq in the Champion because he had a potentially glittering steeplechasing career mapped out for French Holly.

He said the Stayers' Hurdle – now the Ladbroke World Hurdle won by Big Bucks last year – was the undoing of too many potential chasers.

It was never to be, however. Later in the year, French Holly fell and broke his neck on the gallops.

Another career cut short was Dato Star – the Racing Post's highest-rated two-mile hurdler over the past decade. Malton-based Jefferson said his horse never got the soft ground at Cheltenham that he so favoured.

Already talk is turning to this year's National Hunt Festival which is around 10 weeks away and the ultra-competitive Champion Hurdle.

Ireland's hopes appear to rest with Solwhit and Go Native, the latter being the progressive winner of both the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdles in recent weeks.

Whether he will stay up the Cheltenham hill – just like Istabraq – remains to be seen. An abundance of stamina does not appear to be his greatest asset.

Punjabi, the champion, is one of a possible four entries from Henderson's yard.

Murphy will not have any runners. His modus operandi is to buy horses with the potential to become chasers.

He believes the next hurdling star could be the Philip Fenton-trained Dunguib, though connections appear to be favouring the Supreme Novices (because of the horse's relative inexperience) rather than a wide-open Champion Hurdle.

Either way, Murphy is certain of one thing. "It will take a very special horse to be better than Istabraq," he says. "To come from nowhere to win at Cheltenham for four successive years, now that was class.

"It's also what you measure greatness against – and Istabraq was that. Great."

Halo is chasing hurdling honour

ISTABRAQ is not the only top hurdler to suffer Doncaster disappointment en route to Cheltenham success.

Celestial Halo was well-beaten by the Andrew Tinkler-ridden Sentry Duty on Town Moor weeks before winning the 2008 Triumph Hurdle. Trainer Paul Nicholls blamed Ruby Walsh's negative riding tactics.

A narrow second to Punjabi in last year's Champion Hurdle, the six-year-old will go chasing if he does not win this year's hurdling honours.

"We're definitely not going to jump a fence (this season) but in the event that we don't blossom at Cheltenham you will see him jump a fence," said Stewart.

Istabraq facts and record

Factfile

Owner: JP McManus.

Trainer: Aidan O'Brien.

Jockey: Charlie Swan.

Victories: 23 from 29 races.

Prize money: More than 1m.

Cheltenham record

1997: Won Royal SunAlliance Novices Hurdle.

1998: Won Champion Hurdle.

1999: Won Champion Hurdle.

2000: Won Champion Hurdle.

2001: Did not take place.

2002: Pulled up after two flights.