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Morley Street (1984-–2009) was an Irish racehorse. He was a specialist
hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...
but also won
steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...
s and races on the flat. In a racing career which lasted from November 1988 until December 1995, he ran forty-five times and won twenty races including the
Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...
in 1991 and the
Aintree Hurdle The Aintree 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 at Aintree over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs ( ...
on four successive occasions. He won the title of
American Champion Steeplechase Horse The American Champion Steeplechase Horse is an United States, American horse racing honor awarded as part of the Eclipse Award program since its inception in 1971. It is awarded annually to the top horse in Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechas ...
on two occasions, as a result of back-to-back wins in the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase.


Background

Morley Street was a chestnut horse with a large white
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
, bred in Ireland by Marshall Parkhill. He was sired by Deep Run, an outstanding sire of jumpers whose other progeny included
Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful mare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup over fences at the festi ...
and Golden Cygnet. Morley Street's dam, High Board, was not a
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
, being a descendant of the mare Arab Maid, whose pedigree on her mother's side was uncertain. Arab Maid's other descendants included the dual
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 ...
winner
Easter Hero Easter Hero (1920–1948) was an Irish-bred British-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and made three unsuccessful attempts to win the Grand National. He showed little early promise and was passed from owner to o ...
. Two years after Morley Street was foaled, High Board produced his full brother Granville Again, who won the Champion Hurdle in 1993. Morley Street was bought as an unraced three-year-old by the British businessman Michael Jackson, who first raced the horse in the name of his Salehurst Paper Company. The horse was named after a street close to Jackson's Salehurst office, near
London Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Undergrou ...
. He was trained throughout his career by
Toby Balding Gerald Barnard Balding Jr. OBE (23 September 1936 – 25 September 2014), known as Toby Balding, was a British racehorse trainer, one of the few to have won the "big three" British jump races—the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and C ...
at Kimpton in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
and was ridden in most of his important races by Jimmy Frost. Morley Street suffered throughout his career from
bleeding Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethr ...
. Balding treated the horse with a variety of substances including
Lasix Furosemide, sold under the brand name Lasix among others, is a loop diuretic medication used to treat edema due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. Furosemide may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can ...
but was banned under British racing rules from using medication on race days.


Racing career


1988–1990: early career

Morley Street began his racing career by winning a
National Hunt Flat National Hunt flat races, informally known as bumper races, are a type of flat racing but run under National Hunt racing rules in Britain and Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlant ...
race at
Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt racing, National Hunt races and one Group One, Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Sta ...
on 5 November 1988. He was then campaigned in Novice Hurdles (races for horses which have not won a hurdle race before the start of the season), and won races at Sandown, Newbury and
Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...
. In March, he was sent to the
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 ...
to contest the
Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle The Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle (currently known as the Turners Novices' Hurdle for sponsorship reasons) is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in G ...
. He started 5/1 second favourite and finished fourth of the twenty-two runners behind Sayfar's Lad, Trapper John and Knight Oil. At Aintree Racecourse a month later, Morley Street recorded his first major win when he defeated Trapper John by one and a half lengths in the Mumm Prize Novices' Hurdle. In the first half of the 1989/1990 season, Morley Street ran in three hurdle races, winning once and finishing second in the other two. His victory came in a leg of the Sport of Kings challenge series, in which the beaten horses included the leading American steeplechaser Jamaica Bay. At Cheltenham in March, Morley Street made his first challenge for the Champion Hurdle. He started at odds of 10/1 in a field which included the previous champions Beech Road and See You Then, and finished fifth of the nineteen runners behind Kribensis. Following his run in the Champion Hurdle, Jackson transferred the ownership of Morley Street his Michael Jackson Bloodstock company. In April, he returned to Aintree for the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles and started odds-on favourite. He took the lead at the last hurdle and accelerated clear to win by fifteen lengths.


1990–1993: peak years

The 1990/1991 season was intended to be the one in which Morley Street would establish himself as a steeplechaser. He warmed up for the season by having his first race under Flat racing rules, in which he recorded an upset win over
St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...
winner
Michelozzo Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (; – 7 October 1472), known mononymously as Michelozzo, was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici ...
in a race at
Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in l ...
in early October. In an unusual move, he was then sent across the Atlantic for the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at
Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...
where the obstacles were larger than British hurdles, but smaller than British steeplechase fences. Morley Street won his biggest prize to date as he beat the Jonathan E. Sheppard-trained Summer Colony by eleven lengths. On his return to England, Morley Street won the Ascot Hurdle by three lengths and a Novices' Chase at Cheltenham, in which he beat the future Champion Chaser Deep Sensation by seven lengths. Morley Street's five-race winning streak came to an end at Ascot in December when he was beaten by
Remittance Man In British history, a remittance man was an emigrant, often from Britain to a British colony, who was supported by regular payments from home on the expectation that he would stay away. In this sense, remittance means the opposite of today's mea ...
in the Noel Novices' Chase after repeatedly jumping to the left on a right-handed course. Despite his defeat, he was made favourite for the Grade I Feltham Novices' Chase at Kempton, but jumped poorly again and was pulled up after breaking a blood-vessel. In February, he was voted American Champion Steeplechaser at the
Eclipse Awards The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected Am ...
. Morley Street was returned to hurdle racing after a break and won the Grade II Berkshire Hurdle at Newbury in March before running in his second Champion Hurdle. He started 4/1 favourite in a field of twenty-four runners. Frost sent Morley Street into the lead between the last two hurdles, and the gelding ran on in the closing stages to win by one and a half lengths from Nomadic Way. On his final start of the season, Morley Street won a second Aintree Hurdle, beating Nomadic Way by six lengths. In the late summer of 1991, Morley Street briefly returned to Flat racing. He ran poorly in the Lonsdale Stakes at
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
but showed top-class staying form when finishing second by a short head to Great Marquess in the
Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 m ...
. In October, he was again sent to the United States for the Breeders' Cup Chase, run at Fair Hill Racecourse. He started odds-on favourite and won by nine and three quarter lengths from Declare Your Wish in a course record time. The performance was enough to earn him a second Eclipse award. Morley Street won a second Ascot Hurdle in November and was then rested until February when he ran in the
Irish Champion Hurdle The Irish Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and ...
at
Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is a horse-racing course in Leopardstown, approximately south of Dublin city centre, in Ireland. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Built by Captain George Quin and modell ...
. He started odds-on favourite but was narrowly beaten by the locally trained Chirkpar. He started 2/1 favourite for the Champion Hurdle, with his younger brother Granville Again being the 9/2 second choice in the betting. Morley Street was in contention two hurdles from the finish, but failed to quicken and ran sixth behind
Royal Gait Royal Gait (12 April 1983 – 30 December 1992) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won at the highest level in both Flat and National Hunt racing. Originally trained in Spain, where he won seven races, he was later moved to Franc ...
. He ended the season with a third victory in the Aintree Hurdle, beating the Irish mare Minorettes Girl by half a length. Morley Street won a flat race at Doncaster in October, and then began the new National Hunt season by beating Granville Again in the Elite Hurdle at Cheltenham in November. He failed to run up to his best form when finishing second as odds-on favourite in the Ascot Hurdle and was then beaten in races at Cheltenham and Sandown. In his third Champion Hurdle, he made no impression and finished twelfth behind Granville Again. In the Aintree Hurdle, Granville Again was made 10/11 favourite, and journalists predicted "further humiliation" for the former champion. Morley Street, however, returned to his best and defeated his younger brother by one and a half lengths. The win made him the first horse to win the Grade I race on four occasions.


1993–1995: later career

After his win at Aintree in April 1993, Morley Street never won again. A return to steeplechasing in late 1993 brought no success, and he was pulled up in the 1994 Champion Hurdle. He was unplaced in four flat races in 1994 and finished fourth when sent to compete in a hurdle race at Merano in Italy that autumn. After spending a year in retirement at his owner's farm in
East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
, Morley Street became restless and was returned to training. In November 1995, he showed some signs of a return when finishing third in the Ascot Hurdle, but was retired after finishing unplaced in the
Long Walk Hurdle The Long Walk 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 at Ascot over a distance of about 3 miles and half a furlon ...
at Ascot a month later.


Retirement

Morley Street died at the age of twenty-five on 26 February 2009. Toby Balding described him as "without a doubt the most versatile horse that I trained."


Pedigree


References

{{Champion Hurdle winners 1984 racehorse births 2009 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Champion Hurdle winners Breeders' Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses Non-Thoroughbred racehorses Eclipse Award winners