Captain Christy (foaled 1967) was a champion Irish-bred and Irish-trained hurdler and steeplechaser who won 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 furlongs ...

as a

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 ...

. In spite of a tendency to make mistakes, Captain Christy was an outstanding hurdler and one of the best steeplechasers of all time. He was the top-rated steeplechaser in Britain and Ireland for three successive seasons, 1972–73 to 1975–76. His most outstanding performance was his 30-length win over Bula and other top horses in the 1975 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park; this is regarded as one of the greatest ever steeplechasing performances. Gerry Newman rode him in that race, but for most of his other successes his jockeys were Bobby Beasley and Bobby Coonan. Throughout his career, Captain Christy was trained by

Pat Taaffe Patrick Taaffe (9 March 1930, Dublin - 7 July 1992, Dublin) was an Irish National Hunt jockey who is best remembered as the jockey of Arkle. The pair dominated National Hunt racing in the mid-sixties, winning the Irish Grand National, the King ...

, and that victory over Bula was the second time he had beaten the dual

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

winner; he had also outgalloped him when winning the 1972 Irish Sweeps Hurdle when the race was a championship (non-handicap) event. He finished third in that year's

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

at Cheltenham before winning the Scottish equivalent. Captain Christy's most important success came in the 1974 Cheltenham Gold Cup when, as a novice ridden by Bobby Beasley, he beat the previous year's winner, The Dikler, by five lengths despite making a mistake at the last fence. Later that year he won his first King George VI Chase when, ridden by Bobby Coonan, he easily beat the outstanding three-mile chaser, Pendil, who had won the race in 1972 and 1973. In 1975 Captain Christy finished a close second under top-weight in the

Whitbread Gold Cup Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

giving over two

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

s in weight to the winner, April the Seventh. He also raced beyond Britain and Ireland, including finishing runner-up in the

Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris The Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 6,000 metres, and during its running there are twen ...

and coming fourth in the

Colonial Cup Colonial Cup may refer to: * Colonial Cup (ice hockey), the trophy for the post-season champion of the International Hockey League. * Colonial Cup (rugby league), an international rugby league football challenge match played between the United Stat ...

in the USA. Captain Christy developed a leg problem after his 1975 King George VI Chase win which effectively ended his career while still a relatively young horse.

References

* ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing'' – written by Bill Mooney and George Ennor 1967 racehorse births Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners Thoroughbred family 26 Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland {{racehorse-stub