Irish Greats: How Dawn Run Made History by Winning Both Hurdle and Gold Cup Titles It’s fair to say that winning both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival is an outstanding and rare achievement, as only one horse has managed to do it. That horse is the wonder mare Dawn Run and she has well and truly earned her place in the history books. Dawn Run was a relatively cheap purchase and we’re going to take a look at how she claimed two of National Hunt racing’s biggest prizes. Background Dawn Run was purchased for 5,800 guineas, a relatively small fee, and it’s fair to say that she earned every penny of it during her career. Her dam was Twilight Slave and she was by the very successful National Hunt sire Deep Run. Paddy Mullins, father of Tony and Willie, trained the mare, and she was owned by Charmian Hill. The route to the Champion Hurdle She began her career on the Flat, winning three times and 62-year-old owner Charmian Hill was on board for her first three starts. It didn’t take long for connections to go hurdling however and that is where she began to flourish. Champion novice hurdler in Britain and Ireland, she took her form to a new level the following season, winning the Ascot Hurdle and the Christmas Hurdle. There was still more to come, however, as she then won the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. Champion Hurdle success Cheltenham’s hurdling crown was next on the agenda and she was prominent throughout the race, cutting out much of the early running with Desert Orchid. Only Mullins’ mare could maintain the gallop, however, and she kicked clear on the bend to score by a length. She didn’t stop there, as victories at Aintree and Auteuil followed. Dawn Run became the first mare to win the English, Irish and French Champion Hurdles in the same season and this impressive achievement wouldn’t even be her career defining one! The switch to fences Dawn Run got off the mark at the first time of asking over fences but injury forced her to miss the rest of the season. She bounced back with victory in the 1985 Durkan Brothers Chase (now known as the John Durkan Memorial Chase). Connections decided to give her a prep run for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in January 1986 and it didn’t quite go to plan, as she unseated Tony Mullins. Gold Cup glory There was a controversial jockey switch for the Gold Cup, as her owner wanted top jockey Jonjo O’Neill to take over, which was against the wishes of trainer Paddy Mullins. The plan was to make the running but she didn’t appreciate being harried by Run And Skip. Her jumping did her no favours at times but although two rivals swept past her with two fences to go, she managed to catch them in the final few yards to score by three-quarters-of-a-length and in a record time. Legacy The fact Dawn Run remains the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup is reflective of how difficult it is to pull off the double. Both races require the winner to be the best of the best at completely different skills and to have the pace for a Champion Hurdle and the stamina for a Gold Cup is frankly ridiculous. Cheltenham racecourse have honoured the great mare by naming the relatively new mares’ novices’ hurdle at the Festival after her. It’s no surprise that she’s so revered and respected as this achievement stands above all else, making her a true all-time great.
