- December Festival Hurdle
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The December Festival Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Christmas Festival meeting in late December.
The 2010 running was sponsored by the bookmaking company Paddy Power and was titled the paddypower.com iPhone App Hurdle. Former titles of the event have included the Sean P. Graham Memorial Hurdle and the Bookmakers Hurdle. The race was first run in 1986, and it has held Grade 1 status since 2002. It is often used as a trial for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Three horses have won both races in the same season – Istabraq three times and Brave Inca and Hurricane Fly once each.
Contents
Records
- Most successful horse – Istabraq, 4 wins (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)
- Most successful jockey – Charlie Swan, 6 wins (1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)
- Most successful trainer – Paddy Mullins, 6 wins (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994)
Winners
- Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".
Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer 1986 Derrymore Boy 4 Tony Mullins Paddy Mullins 1987 Cloughtaney 6 Tony Mullins Paddy Mullins 1988 Grabel 5 Mr Willie Mullins Paddy Mullins 1989 Grabel 6 Tony Mullins Paddy Mullins 1990 Grabel 7 Tony Mullins Paddy Mullins 1991 Galevilla Express 4 Colin Bowens Victor Bowens 1992 Novello Allegro 4 Charlie Swan Noel Meade 1993 Fortune and Fame 6 Brendan Sheridan Dermot Weld 1994 Boro Eight 8 Tommy Treacy Paddy Mullins 1995 Kharasar 5 Mark Dwyer Tony Mullins 1996 Theatreworld 4 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 1997 Istabraq 5 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 1998 Istabraq 6 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 1999 Istabraq 7 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 2000 Moscow Flyer 6 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington 2001 Istabraq 9 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 2002 Liss A Paoraigh 7 Barry Geraghty John Kiely 2003 Golden Cross 4 Adrian Lane Michael Halford 2004 Macs Joy 5 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington 2005 Brave Inca 7 Tony McCoy Colm Murphy 2006 Brave Inca 8 Ruby Walsh Colm Murphy 2007 Al Eile 7 Timmy Murphy John Queally 2008 Sublimity 8 Philip Carberry Robert Hennessy 2009 Solwhit 5 Davy Russell Charles Byrnes 2010 Hurricane Fly 6 Paul Townend Willie Mullins References
- pedigreequery.com – December Festival Hurdle – Leopardstown.
See also
Categories:- National Hunt races in Ireland
- National Hunt hurdle races
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