Trio of legends calling it a day
THREE National Hunt legends, Faugheen, Douvan and Benie Des Diuex, have run their final races.
Owner Rich Ricci has announced the retirement of the trio of jumping greats, of whom Faugheen ‘The Machine’, was exceptional, winning 17 of his 26 races and amassing over €1.3million in prize money.
Faugheen’s triumphs included the 2015 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown and back-to-back victories in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
It looked as though his career could be over in the spring of 2019 after he was found to be suffering from a heart problem when pulling up in the Aintree Hurdle.
But the decision to embark on a career over fences the following season at the age of 11 proved a masterstroke by trainer Willie Mullins, with Faugheen winning his first three chase starts, including a memorable grade one success at last year’s Dublin Racing Festival.
At 12, he was beaten just a length by Samco into third when bidding for a third Cheltenham Festival success in a pulsating renewal of the Marsh Novices’ Chase in March of last year – his final race.
Douvan, whose 11th birthday is today, won on his first 13 appearances for Mullins, including Cheltenham wins in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Arkle Trophy.
However, he was a beaten odds-on favourite in the 2017 Queen Mother Champion Chase and has run only three times since, most recently winning the 2019 Clonmel Oil Chase.
Benie Des Dieux, 10, meanwhile won eight of her 10 starts for the all-conquering Ricci-Mullins team, with her most notable triumphs coming in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil.
She fell at the final flight when seemingly set to successfully defend her Mares’ Hurdle title in 2019, and was just touched off by the brilliant Honeysuckle when bidding to regain her crown last year. Between them, the highcalibre trio won 23 grade one races, five of them at the Cheltenham Festival, and banked over €2m in prize money.