Channel 4 Racing

PRESS PACK

Hennessy Gold Cup 2014Newbury Racecourse

29th November 2014

Live on Channel 4

Hennessy Gold Cup Fascinating Facts

1. Only 1 amateur rider has everwon the race – John Lawrence,who later became Lord Oaksey,on Taxidermist in 1958. LordOaksey also bred and part-owned Carruthers, the 2011winner.

2. There have only been 2 tenyear old winners of the HennessyGold Cup – Diamond Edge in1981 and Mandarin in 1961.

3. There have been 3 dualwinners of the Hennessy Gold Cupand all were jump racing legends– Mandarin, Arkle and Denman.There have also been 3 female-trained winners of the race –Burrough Hill Lad (Jenny Pitman,1984), Teeton Mill (VenetiaWilliams, 1998) and Gingembre(Lavinia Taylor, 2002).

4. 4 trainers and 4 jockeys havewon the Hennessy Gold Cup inconsecutive years. The trainersare: Nicky Henderson (2012/13),David Barons 1986/87), TomDreaper (1964/65) and FulkeWalwyn (1957/58). The jockeysare: Barry Geraghty (2012/13),Paul Nicholls (1986/87), JohnFrancome (1983/84) and PatTaaffe (1964/65).

5. The Hennessy Gold Cup hasbeen won by 5 greys – StalbridgeColonist (1966), One Man (1994), Suny Bay (1997), Teeton Mill 1998)and What’s Up Boys (2001).

6. There were only 6 runners inthe 1966 Hennessy Gold Cup,which was won by StalbridgeColonist, carrying 35lb less thanrunner up, Arkle.

7. Legendary local trainer FulkeWalwyn won the Hennessy GoldCup 7 times.

8. The Hennessy Gold Cup hasbeen won by an 8 year old tentimes.

9. The Hennessy Gold Cuptrophy is made of 9 carat goldand is valued at around £40,000.

10. 10 horses have won theHennessy Gold Cup carrying theminimum weight of 10 stone.

11. Only one 11 year old has wonthe Hennessy Gold Cup –Rondetto in 1967. He remains theoldest winner of the race.

12. There has been no winner ofthe Hennessy Gold Cup priced at12/1 since Zeta’s Son in 1976.

13. There were 13 runners in theHennessy Gold Cup in 1992 – butit was unlucky for punters as therace was won by Sibton Abbey at40/1, the biggest price winner inthe history of the race.

14. In 2001, What’s Up Boys wasthe only 14/1 winner in the historyof the Hennessy Gold Cup – andthere were 14 runners.

15. The longest winning margin inthe Hennessy Gold Cup is 15lengths by Knucklecracker (1960), Arkle (1965), Spanish Steps (1969)and Teeton Mill (1998).

16. There have been 16 winningfavourites in the 54 runnings of theHennessy Gold Cup at Newbury.

17. There have been 17 runners inthe Hennessy Gold Cup onlyonce, when the 7 year old KingsRoad won at 7/1 carrying 10st 7lb.

18. There have been 18 runnersthree times in the Hennessy GoldCup – all since 2007 whenDenman beat 17 opponents forhis first win in the race.

19. 19 horses ran in the first everHennessy Gold Cup in 1957, wonby Mandarin.

20. Last year’s winner, TrioloD’Alene, started at 20/1; the onlyother 20/1 winner was Man of theWest in 1968.

21. There are 21 obstacles in theHennessy Gold Cup – 16 plainfences, 4 open ditches and awater jump.

22. There are 22 years since PaulNicholls last won the HennessyGold Cup as a jockey (Playschoolin 1987) and a trainer (Denman in2009).

23. 23 seven year olds have wonthe Hennessy Gold Cup, morethan double any other age.

24. The maximum field size for theHennessy Gold Cup is now set at24. There were also 24 yearsbetween trainer Fulke Walwyn’sfirst and last winners of the race –Mandarin in 1957 and DiamondEdge in 1981.

25. In the history of the HennessyGold Cup, there have been 25occasions on which the winner’sname started with A, B, C or D.

Channel 4’s coverage of the Hennessy Gold Cup on Saturday 29th November

begins with the Morning Line from 8am.

Racing is on air from 1.30pm to 4pm,presented by Clare Balding, Nick Luck and the team.

For more information and images please contact:

Naomi Lawson, Senior PR Manager, Great British RacingE: NLawson@greatbritishracing.com T: 07881 266359

Hannah Walker, Senior Publicity Manager, Channel 4 RacingE: HLWalker@Channel4.co.uk T: 07971 598287

Andy Clifton, Head of Communications, Newbury RacecourseE: AClifton@racecoursenewbury.co.uk T: 07876 330090

Hennessy Press Pack_6pp 07/11/2014 16:02 Page 1

Channel 4 presenter Mick Fitzgerald on Barry Geraghty & Nicky Henderson

How important a landmark is theHennessy in the jump racingcalendar?

It is huge. Anybody speaking to APMcCoy will tell you that it's the onerace he's missing from his CV. Evennow, when he's signed himself offwith injury, his ultimate target is tocome back for the Hennessy.Normally he has to go to Newcastleto ride in the Fighting Fifth which he'sdone for the last few years, but thisyear he looks like he's got a realchance to go and bag theHennessy [on Jonjo O’Neill’s MerryKing] so he's really keen to go andadd it to his CV.

And although it's a handicap byname it's been won by some veryhigh-quality horses.

It's been won by Cheltenham GoldCup winners in the past and horsesof real distinction. At the end of yourcareer, when you turn round andsay ‘these are the races I’ve won’, ifyou’ve won the Hennessy it’s at thetop of the list, it goes alongsideraces like the King George, the GoldCup, and the Grand National. It's arace of huge prestige which hasbeen in the calendar for a long timeand if you tell someone you've wonthe Hennessy they know whatyou're talking about.

Talk us briefly through your win onTrabolgan in 2005 which gave NickyHenderson his first win in the race.

It was a poignant time in my careerbecause I'd just come back fromserious neck injury and it was one

which Nicky Henderson reallywanted to win. It meant an awful lotto us because we'd come close afew times but we'd never reallythought we'd had anything thatwould win a Hennessy untilTrabolgan came along. We'd beenplaced with some horses but whenhe arrived on the scene Nickytargeted the race from pretty earlyon. It was at the back of his mindwhen Trabolgan crossed the line inthe RSA Chase that for this horse,next stop would be the Hennessy.And that is one thing NickyHenderson is very good at - laying ahorse out for a race. We saw morerecently how he placed Bobs Worthto do the same thing.

This interview is freely available for re-print in full or in part.The Hennessy Gold Cup raceday is live on Channel 4 from 1.30pm

on Saturday 29th November

50 Year Arkle Anniversary

Rebecca Curtis is the ambassadorfor the 2014 bet365 HennessyFestival.

Curtis trains at Fforest Farm inNewport, Pembrokeshire, and hasenjoyed significant success to datewith her string. Among her bigwinners are Teaforthree, At FishersCross, and O’Faolains Boy. In the

2013-14 National Hunt season, shesent out the winners of 38 races and£418,000 in win and place prize-money.

The Hennessy Gold Cup is theshowpiece event of the three-daybet365 Hennessy Festival atNewbury, which runs from Thursday27th - Saturday 29th November.

Rebecca Curtisbet365 Hennessy Festival Ambassador

This year marks 50 years since Arklerecorded his first of two victories inthe Hennessy Gold Cup (1964 &1965). Arkle is widely recognised asone of the greatest steeplechasersto have ever graced the turf. Hisdominance of the chasing divisionin the 1960s made him a householdname, and even led to him

receiving gifts and fan mail from hisadoring supporters simplyaddressed to “Arkle, Ireland”.

His greatest rival on the track wasthe Fulke Walywn-trained Mill House,who was one of only six horses tobeat him over fences. They firstcame across each other in the 1963Hennessy Gold Cup, where Arkle

was beaten into third after slippingat the third last fence. Arkle madeamends by winning the next tworenewals of the Hennessy Gold Cupas well as triumphing in a collectionof other top chasing prizesthroughout an illustrious career.

ArkleDate of Birth: 19th April 1957Birthplace: Ballymacoll Stud,

County MeathTrainer: Tom DreaperJockey: Pat TaaffeOwner: Anne, Duchess of

WestminsterTimeform Rating: 212Victories/Starts: 27/35Purchase Price: 1,150gns (roughly

£22,000 today)

It must have been pretty magicalfor you to win that race. After theinjury you probably thought youhad to show people you still had theability…

For the first time in my life andespecially in my career I wasspeechless afterwards, I was quiteemotional because it was a realrelief winning the race because itmeant so much to me and Nickyand everyone at his yard. Whenyou’re based at Lambourn youwant to win the big prizes locallyand there are no bigger prizeslocally in jump racing than theHennessy.

This year, Nicky's going for three ina row in the Hennessy. He's got lastyear's winner Triolo D'Alene in theentries, but also Hadrian’sApproach who’s perhaps of moreinterest this time.

Definitely. When Barry had tochoose between the two last yearhe went for the horse he thoughtcould cope better with the racerather than which horse wasnaturally the better or moretalented animal, whereas I think asthe season progressed Hadrian’sApproach jumped a little bit better.I also think he's more experiencedhorse now and his win in the bet365Gold Cup at the back end of lastseason shows what he's capable ofand it shows what high regard he'sheld in by the team, and also Barry.

Nicky is a general even-moneyfavourite to win the trainer'schampionship this year. Does thatlook about right to you?

It's almost like a juggling actbecause at the moment the ballsare in the air with Simonsig andSprinter Sacre. We've already knowhe's lost one of his big guns in MyTent Or Yours but he has still got alot of bullets to fire. A lot will dependon what happens to Simonsig and

Sprinter Sacre, but Nicky won't beworried about what price he is, he'llbe more concerned about thewelfare of his horses and he'll knowthat if he manages to keep thosetwo sound and running to theircapabilities then he has a real livechance of being champion trainer.

When you retired, Barry Geraghtytook over as number one jockey toNicky. Did you help with thedecision to appoint Barry?

Not at all. Barry probably fitted thebill because his pedigree was prettyimpressive and when you look at

how young he was when he wasriding the likes of Moscow Flyer, hewas already a proven big-racewinner. One of the hardest thingswhen I gave up was I knew whatwas coming behind me horse-wise.Barry won a big race for Nicky atPunchestown when I was off injuredand he was a very good choice. Hehas since proven to be a greatchoice - look at his record in bigraces both for Nicky and othertrainers. He is almost the big-racejockey and he really does showhimself at his best in that light. Someof the rides he's given thosehorses… the ride he gave RiversideTheatre to win at the Cheltenham

Festival in 2012 - especially when herealised what was at stake forConor Murphy [Henderson’sassistant head lad had him as partof a £50 accumulator which madehim a millionaire] and everyoneelse who had backed it - was oneof the best rides I've ever seen.

His record in the three big Festivalslast season – Cheltenham, Aintreeand Punchestown – wasexceptional.

Well, Barry's got an awful lot of faithin his own ability as a rider. Somemight say it's arrogance, but it's not.It's confidence and it's what Barrybrings to the table. He's a big-racejockey who’s not afraid to makedecisions based on what'shappening in the race regardlessof what type of race it is or whatprize money's on offer. He's almostlike a go-to man for the punters.They know what they’re getting,they know he's not going to panicand they know he's a very solidrider. The more I watch him, themore evident that becomes. Youlook at Ryan Moore on the Flat: herides the Cox Plate, MelbourneCup, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe thesame as if it’s a 0-90 handicap atLeicester, Kempton or Lingfield.And that is the key to being asuccessful big-race jockey: you'vegot to ride the race for what it is,you mustn’t get carried away bythe hysteria around a race.

What is the relationship likebetween Barry and Nicky? Do theyhelp each other decide what raceswould suit each horse?

Yes, very much so and it's one ofthe good things about riding forNicky. He very much values thefeedback jockeys give him and ithelps him choose targets for horses.Ultimately, it helps your chances ofwinning races as a trainer if youlisten to the jockey.

ARKLE WINNING THE HENNESSYIN GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOUR,LEFT, THANKS TO COLOURRESTORATION BYDYNAMICHROME

Hennessy Press Pack_6pp 07/11/2014 16:02 Page 2