Hedgehunter (born 25 January 1996) is an Irish

race horse ''Race Horse'' was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn. Construction ''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ...

, who won the

2005 Grand National The 2005 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 158th official annual running of the Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on ...

steeplechase, ridden by

Ruby Walsh Rupert "Ruby" Walsh (born 14 May 1979) is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Widely regarded as one of the greatest National Hunt racing, National Hunt ...

and trained by

Willie Mullins William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse horse trainer, trainer and former jockey. He is a nineteen-time List of Irish National Hunt races, Irish National Hunt Champion trainer. Mullins is the most successful traine ...

. He had fallen at the final fence the previous year when well placed. He then finished second in 2006 to

Numbersixvalverde Numbersixvalverde (born 1996) is an Irish race horse who won both the 2005 Irish Grand National and 2006 Aintree Grand National steeplechase, beating Hedgehunter by six lengths with Niall Madden in the saddle. Numbersixvalverde won his big r ...

. He also finished second in the 2006

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

. The horse was owned by

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

billionaire

Trevor Hemmings Trevor James Hemmings (11 June 1935 – 11 October 2021) was a British billionaire businessman. Early life Hemmings was born in Woolwich, London, on 11 June 1935, the son of a Royal Ordnance worker. During the Second World War, part of the Ro ...

who also owned

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in P ...

Racing career

Early career

Hedgehunter was foaled in January 1996 on the Tully Hill Stud in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was bred by Mary Lang and her uncle, Tony Keogh. He was sold ten months later on 5 November for £3,200 at National Hunt Sales in Tattersalls Fairyhouse Ireland. Niall F Quaid bought him and put him into training with Willie Mullins. In his first season, he ran in and finished second in four National Hunt Flat Races. It wasn't until the end of the following season he managed to win a sixteen-runner Maiden Hurdle at Clonmel.

Chase career

The next season, he went

Novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

chasing winning the Grand National Trial at

Punchestown Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish Nationa ...

Gowran Park and ran at the 2003

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

in the National Hunt Chase. He moved to dispute the lead before making a mistake at the second last fence and almost losing his jockey. He made one more racecourse appearance that season finishing second to the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase winner Rule Supreme at the Punchestown Festival. He began the 2004-2005 season chasing home the classy Strong Flow to finish fourth in the

Hennessy Gold Cup /Ladbrokes Trophy The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is ...

Newbury Racecourse Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's List of ...

. Next he finished third to the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

winner

Bindaree Bindaree (1994 – September 2024) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was the winner of the 2002 Grand National when ridden by Jim Culloty and the 2003 Welsh Grand National when partnered by Carl Llewellyn Carl Llewellyn (born 29 ...

in the

Welsh National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of ...

, before winning the prestigious Thyestes chase at

Gowran Park Gowran Park is a horse race course in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the Annely Estate near the village of Gowran. The first meeting was held in 1914. and the first ever racecourse commentary in Ireland took place here in 1952. Gowra ...

2004 Grand National

His first run in the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

was in 2004. He led the field as they turned for home before tiring and falling at the last when in third, unlucky not to finish close behind the winner Amberleigh House.

2005 Grand National

The race began at a furious pace and despite making a slight mistake at the tenth fence and

almost losing his irons Hedgehunter was chasing the well fancied Clan Royal. As the field approached

Becher's Brook Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt Horse racing, horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four othe ...

a loose horse swerved in front of the leader, and stopping him from jumping the fence. This left Hedgehunter in the lead 8 fences from the finish and he led the field over the last fence. He was travelling very well up the run in when Walsh asked him to quicken and he put a dozen lengths between himself and the second horse.

2006 Grand National

Starting 5/1 joint favourite for the 2006 National, Hedgehunter carried top weight of 11 stone 12 (166 lb, 75 kg) and came off of a hard race a few weeks earlier when he finished second in the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

. He finished six lengths second behind

. Few horses have been so close in three consecutive Grand Nationals since

Red Rum Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was an Irish champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1 ...

2007 Grand National

Starting with odds of 14-1 and again carrying top weight, finished in 9th place.

2008 Grand National

Starting with odds of 20-1, he'd finish

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

of 15 finishers, again with top-weight.

Retirement

On 10 April 2008, at 12 years old, Hedgehunter was retired by his owner, having amassed three quarters of a million pounds in prize money.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Story of the 2005 Grand National

A Hedgehunter's Fans Site
1996 racehorse births Grand National winners National Hunt racehorses Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland Thoroughbred family 8-c