Honeysuckle

Owned by Kenneth Alexander, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore on all her starts under National Hunt Rules, Honeysuckle was retired from racing after justifying joint-favouritism in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on March 14, 2023. On that occasion, she kept on strongly in the closing stages to beat Love Envoi by a length and a half, havimg previously beaten odd-on favourite Benie Des Dieux by half a length in the same race on her Cheltenham Festival debut, as a six-year-old, on March 10, 2020.

In between times, the daughter of high-class jumps sire Sulamani had her sights raised at the Cheltenham Festival, contesting the Champion Hurdle in both 2021 and 2022. On the first occasion, she arrived at Prestbury Park unbeaten in eleven races, including her sole point-to-point start, and was sent off 11/10 favourite to extend her winning streak. So she did, in some style, going clear approaching the final flight to win, impressively, by six and a half lengths from Sharjah.

Following three more wins on home soil, all at Grade 1 level, Honeysuckle was back at Cheltenham for the 2022 Champion Hurdle, in which she was sent off at 8/11 to defend her title. Again, she was untroubled, travelling strongly throughout and going clear in the closing stages to readily beat the 2020 winner, Epatante, by three and a half lengths.

At the end of her career, Honeysuckle had won 17 of her 19 races, including 13 at Grade 1 level, and amassed £1.43 million in prixe money. She achieved a Timeform Annual Rating of 165, making her, jointly, the sixth highest-rated jumping mare since the early sixties, according to that organisation. Henry de Bromhead said of her, “…she’s just such an incredible mare, we feel so privileged and lucky to have had anything to do with her.”