Blast from the Past: International Hurdle

The Grade 2 International Hurdle was established as the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle in 1963 before being renamed the Bula Hurdle in 1977, in honour of the dual Champion Hurdle winner Bula who won the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle in 1972 on his way to winning his second Champion Hurdle. Bird’s Nest won the first running of the race as the Bula and also landed two of the next three renewals, completing the hat-trick as a 10-year-old in 1980.

It was a case of déjà vu in the 1999 Bula Hurdle as the 10-year-old Relkeel lined up bidding for his third success in the race. It was a fascinating renewal as there was a mixture of established performers such as Relkeel (13/2), Shooting Light (11/1) and Foundry Lane (14/1), the latter pair having reverted to hurdles after a spell chasing, as well as a handful of interesting young pretenders including the previous season’s Triumph Hurdle winner Katarino (6/4) and Far Cry (10/3). In the event, it was indeed Relkeel, making his first start for local trainer Alan King (after the retirement of King’s former boss David ‘The Duke’ Nicholson), who all but brought the house down as he lifted the prize, snatching the spoils by a neck from Far Cry at the end of a rare battle (Shooting Light 11 length back in third).

Relkeel really was an amazing gelding and it was such a pity numerous setbacks meant he was never able to fulfil his true potential. Between winning the Bula Hurdles of 1997 and 1999, he’d raced just four times, with his win in the 1998 Bula coming on his only start during that season. His win in the 1999 Relkeel could not be praised highly enough as, conceding weight all round, he stuck his neck out in the bravest fashion up the hill to deprive an equally game runner-up (who’d won the Queen’s Prize, Northumberland Plate and Doncaster Cup on the Flat earlier in the year). The performance suggested that, Far Cry and the recent Fighting Fifth winner Dato Star apart, Relkeel was almost certainly still as good a two-mile hurdler as there was in Britain at the time—sadly, for both Relkeel’s connections and the racing public, he only ran in one Champion Hurdle during his career, going too fast before fading into ninth in 1998 at a time when the Nicholson stable were struggling for form. Relkeel won his five other starts at Cheltenham. 

Relkeel’s injury woes had included a strained tendon just before the Cheltenham Festival in 1995 that kept him off the track for more than two years, a badly injured pelvis two days before the 1997 Champion Hurdle, a breathing infirmity requiring two bits of surgery in 1998, and a strained tendon again which was responsible for his aforementioned one-race campaign in 1998/99. Unfortunately, he would race only three more times, well beaten on each occasion, but his performance in the 1999 Bula will live long in the memory, as will the reception he received after the race. In terms of Timeform ratings, it perhaps wasn’t quite as good as his half-length defeat of Grey Shot the year before (in which Dato Star fell early), but it certainly wasn’t far off it and he was rising 11 after all.

Relkeel’s achievements were honoured with a race named after him, namely a hurdle over the extended two and a half miles at Cheltenham’s New Years’ Day fixture. The race was first run in 1988 as the Sport of Kings Challenge before being renamed the Lonesome Glory Hurdle in 1993, after the American-trained challenger who had won the race the previous year. It was changed to the Relkeel Hurdle in 2000 and upgraded to Grade 2 status six years later. The Relkeel Hurdle was originally run at the same meeting as the International Hurdle but was moved to it’s new home in the calendar last year. The Relkheel Hurdle’s winners include Lough Derg, Oscar Whisky (twice), More of That and Rock On Ruby. If The New One wins this year's race he'll add his name to the list of three-time winners alongside Bird's Nest and Relkeel.