Espoir d'Allen was a French-bred, Irish-trained racehorse who won the 2019 Champion Hurdle.

Background

Espoir d'Allen was a bay horse with a narrow white blaze bred in France by Bruno Vagne. He was sired by the Thoroughbred stallion Voix du Nord out of the

AQPS AQPS ("Autre Que Pur-Sang"), translated as "Other than Thoroughbred" (not "Other than Pure-Blood"), is a general term used in France to refer to horses not listed as Thoroughbreds but destined to race. Anglo-Arabians, Selle Français (or French R ...

mare Quadanse.

Racing career

2017/2018 season

Espoir d'Allen won the Bar One Racing Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse and the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle at

Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is an Ireland, Irish horse-racing venue, located in Leopardstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, 8 km south of the Dublin city centre. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Th ...

in the latter part of 2017.

2018/2019 season

In his second season over jumps Espoir d'Allen won the

Fishery Lane Hurdle The Fishery Lane Hurdle is a Grade 3 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years. It is run at Naas over a distance of about 2 miles (3,218 metres), and it is scheduled to take place ea ...

at Naas Racecourse in November and the Irish Independent Hurdle at

Limerick Racecourse Limerick Racecourse (Greenmount Park) is a horse racing venue in County Limerick, Ireland, which stages both National Hunt and flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by ...

in December. In January 2019 he took the

Limestone Lad Hurdle The Limestone Lad Hurdle is a Grade 3 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years and over. It is run at Naas over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 metres) and during its running th ...

at Naas. At

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...

on 12 March he won the

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 odds of 16/1, coming home fifteen lengths clear of his nine opponents. In August 2019 Espoir d'Allen injured his shoulder after rearing up and falling during an exercise canter. His condition deteriorated and he was euthanised on 23 August.

References

External links

Profile
at the Racing Post

– ''Espoir D'Allen'' Cheltenham Festival winners Champion Hurdle winners 2014 racehorse births Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in Ireland Non-Thoroughbred racehorses 2019 racehorse deaths {{Racehorse-stub