Honeysuckle lifted the roof of the Cheltenham grandstand as a chorus of cheers erupted as she overhauled Love Envoi to gain her fourth Cheltenham Festival success.
Sent off as the 9/4 favourite for the Grade 1 Mares Hurdle, the race that she had won in 2020 before winning back-to-back Champion Hurdles, the Sulumani mare returned to mares-only company having met with defeat for the first time in her career at Fairyhouse in the Hattons Grace, before suffering a similar fate in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
A Dromahane four-year-old winner for Mark O’Hare and Gerry Cosgrave, her one a and a half length defeat of Love Envoi and Queens Brook in a cleansweep of the placings for ex-Irish Pointers could be the perfect ending to her racing career.
Following the success, Henry de Bromhead said : “It’s just incredible. I am just so happy for the mare, and for Rachael, and for all of us, Kenny… You dream of the fairytale ending, but so often it doesn’t happen. This is what she deserves. She is just an unbelievable mare, and I’m just delighted.
“I think in fairness, we’ve obviously had a terrible year with Jack and everything, and just the support people have given us… Most of it [the cheers as Honeysuckle came into the winner’s enclosure] is for Honey, because she has been so unbelievable, but everyone has shown us so much support.
“We’re really grateful for that - it’s been an incredibly tough time, and you dream that these kind of things will happen, but more often than not they don’t, so it’s amazing.
“This sport is mental. This the result I think everybody wanted, but you daren’t believe it will happen. She’s incredible, everyone’s incredible - Rachael, Kenny, Peter Molony. We are so lucky to have had her.
“She’s been tipping away - she’s been in great form all year, but thankfully we picked the right race, when you see the other lad in the Champion Hurdle. There’s a big team behind her and we’re delighted.
“Jumping the last I thought Love Envoi might be gone on us, but - I used to say she never knows when she’s beaten; she rarely knows when she is beaten - she read the script.
“Any day you win a Grade One is an amazing day and any day you win a Grade One at Cheltenham is an amazing day. It’s an incredible day in the sense that she’s going out like she is.
Rachael Blackmore said: “I knew I’d pick up again after the last but she is just an unbelievable mare. It is incredible what she has done for me, but it is incredible what she has done for all of us. You dream of being involved with something like her. It is just amazing and fair play to Henry he has done such an unbelievable job. What a way to be able to walk back in the winner’s enclosure today. I feel extremely lucky to have teamed up with her throughout my career.
“You come to Cheltenham with Honeysuckle to ride and every jockey dreams of having the likes of her to go to Cheltenham with. She has given us so much and I’m so grateful to her. It will be different without her here next year.”
Kenny Alexander, owner of Honeysuckle commented: “She hasn’t been running badly and I’ve kept saying that, she’s just not quite as good as she was last year. I’ve never said that she’s the greatest champion hurdler ever – and the winner of the last race may well turn out to be that – but I think she’s got to be one of the bravest. She’s got guts beyond belief and a tremendous winning attitude. She’s incredibly talented and today was just amazing, she had to tough it out but it was amazing.
“I’m really happy for Henry and his family getting that one on the board, it’s a tremendous day. This is just a horse race and you can’t really compare things that happen outside of it, but I’m happy that they can have a nice bit of enjoyment today and Henry and his wife Heather loved it. This is just a horse race and a bit of fun, it’s not real life really, but that was a great race and a great day.
“She’s retired now and I’ve had an absolute blast owning her. I’m lost for words to be honest, the celebration was out of control. If you can’t lose it a bit after winning a race like that though, you probably shouldn’t own racehorses!
“It just shows you how great the sport is when she’s getting a cheer like that. They don’t love me, that’s for sure! They may love Rachael and even Henry a bit, but they really love that horse.”
