See More Business

See More Business was a top-class National Hunt chaser in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He won the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup as well as the 1997 and 1999 King George VI Chase. He was trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald in two of those races (the Gold Cup win was the first time Fitzgerald had ridden the horse in a race). Andrew Thornton rode him in the 1997 King George win.

He made his hurdling debut on 4 November 1995 at Chepstow with a win and followed with two further wins including the Grade 2 Winter Novices' Hurdle

He reappeared nearly a year later as a novice chaser. He started by winning the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices' Chase and then was second in a Grade 1 chase and then a Grade 2 chase to Dorans Pride. He was a strongly fancied second favourite at 5/2 for the Racing Post Chase. However, he suffered a heavy fall on the second circuit.

See More Business returned the next season with a win in the Rehearsal Chase at Chepstow and then ran in the King George VI Chase. The joint favourities One Man and Suny Bay disappointed and coming to the last fence he was challenged by the enigmatic Challenger du Luc. The latter would have other words used about him by punters that day as he effectively stopped trying on the run-in and gifted See More Business the win. He then went on to win the Pillar Chase at Cheltenham ahead of Cyborgo. He went into the Cheltenham Gold Cup as the second favourite behind old rival Dorans Pride. However, disaster struck as Cyborgo's jockey Tony McCoy felt his horse had suffered an injury and urgently tried to pull him up before the next fence. See More Business was running slightly wide of the field and when McCoy pulled Cyborgo out he gave See More Business nowhere to go and took him out of the race.

See More Business' first run of the new season was in the Edward Hanmer Chase but he could only finish fourth. He then retained the Rehearsal Chase in a 3 runner field. He went into the King George VI Chase as the favourite but fared badly and was pulled up as Teeton Mill won. He ran again in the Pillar Chase but could only finish third of five behind new star Cyfor Malta and Go Ballistic. He was now the forgotten horse of the 1999 Gold Cup. His chances were made easier by Cyfor Malta suffering an injury and being unable to run and Teeton Mill suffering a career-ending injury early in the race and having to be pulled up. Towards the final three fences there were only four horses with a chance of winning. Double Thriller faded and then so did favourite Florida Pearl. The scene was set for a thrilling finish between See More Business and 66/1 outsider Go Ballistic. See More Business just prevailed by 1 length.

The following season he went into the Cheltenham Gold Cup in fantastic form. He'd won the Charlie Hall Chase and defeated Go Ballistic by 17 lengths in winning the King George VI Chase for a second time. Finally, he won the Aon Chase by 18 lengths. He went into the Gold Cup as the 9/4 favourite. However, no horse since L'Escargot had retained the crown and that had been nearly 30 years earlier. In the end he could only come fourth behind Looks Like Trouble, Florida Pearl and Strong Promise. However, he ended his season with a 21 lengths win in the Martell Cup Chase.

His first port of call the next season was the Charlie Hall Chase where he defeated three rivals by 30 lengths. He then went into the King George VI Chase as the hot favourite with Looks Like Trouble injured. However, he had a dire race and finished a well-beaten fifth. He then won another Pillar Chase before running another disappointing race this time in the Martell Cup Chase (the Cheltenham Festival having been abandoned).

The next year it looked like time would be called on his impressive career. He fell in the Rehearsal Chase and was pulled up in the Welsh National. He bounced back with a convincing win in the Jim Ford but it was a weak field. Still he lined up in that year's Cheltenham Gold Cup. To the racing public's delight he ran a wonderful race. He was unable to hold off Best Mate and Commanche Court but his third place showed him back towards his best. Sadly, he couldn't repeat the trick at Aintree and was well-beaten in the Martell Cup Chase.

His next four races were a mixed bag. He was defeated by More Than A Stroll in Down Royal, won another Rehearsal Chase and Jim Ford before coming well down the field in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Finally, on 6 December 2003 he ran in another Rehearsal Chase. He was behind on this occasion and went onto a well deserved retirement.

Trivia

*On the same day as his hurdling debut fellow future Cheltenham Festival heroes Istabraq and Call Equiname also ran, the former in a flat race and the latter in a hurdle race. Also running was future Derby winner Shaamit (in a maiden stakes race - second last was future National Hunt star Shooting Light). Other hores to run in a day of quality old-timers and upcoming horses were Absalom's Lady, Atours, Anzum, Dato Star, Dorans Pride, Sound Man, and The Last Fling.