Hourigan recalls Down Royal feature wins with Beef Or Salmon The great Beef Or Salmon won the Grade 1 Champion Steeplechase at Down Royal on two occasions in 2004 and 2006 over the course of his glittering career where he won 10 Grade 1 races and amassed prize money of over €1million. Beef or Salmon is now the ripe old age of 26 and is enjoying his retirement at the Irish National Stud in Kildare. His trainer Michael Hourigan paid a rare recent visit to see his horse of a lifetime and Dave Keena caught up with him to discuss his memories of winning the big race in Down Royal. "He looks brilliant, actually. he's in the right place really and is being looked after and well cared for," Hourigan said. "I think somebody said he's in a paddock where the horses (including Hurricane Fly, Kicking King and Hardy Eustace) have won seven to eight million between them! They tell me now he is the king of the field when he is out there. He's the boss and good horses know that. "He was the classiest horse, I suppose (I trained). I could never leave Dorans Pride out of my mind because he was an iron horse - he was tough, tough. They were two very good horses but they were opposites. This was a classier horse. "They were great days (in 2004 and 2006). He put you dreaming of the Gold Cup all the time because every time he met those horses, he was able to beat them, but he couldn't manage to win a Gold Cup which was unfortunate. "He won 10 Grade Ones and couldn't have done much more. He has been a super horse, really. "We were a little but worried going up there (Down Royal) at the time because the ground could be a little bit on the quick side. It is your first run (of the season) and you are thinking 'are you fit enough?' "He was the horse of a lifetime at the time, he was a licence to print money! You went to Leopardstown at Christmas and you collected the Hennessy and you looked forward to going again next year. You went to the races with these horses and you won, you didn't expect defeat. "I suppose the standout (in his career) would be the races in Down Royal, to go up there and win it twice. Then heading on to Leopardstown and winning three Hennessys. I got a great kick out of him winning a Flat race up the Curragh with Mick Kinane on him. That was after he got his bad fall in Cheltenham." This year's renewal of the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Steeplechase takes place on Saturday at Down Royal.
