Her class, consistency and adaptability make her a nightmare for her opponents and she's inarguably the best mare in National Hunt racing at the moment. We're going to take a look at her career from the very start and up until the present day.

Early days

Lossiemouth was foaled on March 23, 2019 in France by Sarl Elevage Des Vallons and Ian Kellit. She is by Haras de la Hetraie's popular stallion Great Pretender and out of Mariner's Light, who won on the Flat in France during her racing career.

Initially trained by Yannick Fouin in France, she made her debut in the Prix Geographie at Auteuil in April 2022 and could hardly have been more impressive. The further they went, the quicker she pulled clear of her rivals, and was 10 lengths clear at the line.

It's no surprise that Willie Mullins sprung into action and purchased her privately on behalf of leading owner Rich Ricci. There's no record of how much they paid but the fact that she's already returned almost 900,000 in prize money suggests it was probably a bargain.

The road to the Triumph

She started off in a Grade 3 hurdle at Fairyhouse in December 2022 and produced a very smart performance, winning by four lengths, easily. Connections then stepped her up slightly in grade at Leopardstown and was even more impressive.

Lossiemouth lost her unbeaten record in unfortunate circumstances in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle next time at the Dublin Racing Festival. The mare landed on the hind legs of the horse in front of her and had nowhere to go. Recovering well to finish second, she probably deserved to win.

Winning the first of many Grade 1s on her next start, she headed to Cheltenham for the Triumph Hurdle and went on to win with plenty in hand. It was a similar story at Punchestown after that and she managed to notch another top-level success.

Queen of the mares

Injury setbacks delayed her reappearance the following season but she ended up running in the Grade 2 Unibet Hurdle on Trials Day at Cheltenham in January. A little keen early on, that made absolutely no difference and she bolted up by just shy of 10 lengths.

Many wanted her to run in the Champion Hurdle off the back of that performance but Mullins resisted public calls and sent her over for the Mares' Hurdle instead. It was her first start over 2m4f and she saw the trip out well to score with plenty in hand once again.

Showing herself to be tactically adaptable and equally adept over various trips, she has won a further six Grade 1 races since then, taking her total to nine, and the seven-year-old is only getting better. She could double that tally before her career comes to an end!

This season she has added the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown and the December Hurdle at Leopardstown, bravely fighting off Brighterdaysahead in a pulsating duel in the latter contest.

The pair could clash again in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival, while both have options in both the Champion Hurdle and Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Lossiemouth has had 16 runs over hurdles and she has won 13 of those and finished second on her two other completed starts. This remarkable level of class and consistency is testament to her ability and Willie Mullins has done a remarkable job training her.

Symbols Explained

ts² Tongue Strap vs² Visor hd² Hood es² Eye Shield ec² Eye Cover cp² Cheekpiece bl² Blinkers tt² Tongue Tie bf Beaten Favourite on Last Run srMentioned in Stewards Report in Results bbvBroke Blood Vessel

The superscript number on headgear bl² indicates number of times worn. A plus bl⁺ indicates more than 10 times where as red background bl¹indicates first time.