This Thursday, JP McManus’ legendary Istabraq will be honoured on TG4 with the horse to be featured on Laochra na Rasaicohta at 9.30pm.
The show takes a look at Ireland’s most famous National Hunt horses from the 1970’s to the present day, recounting their brilliant feats through archive footage and interviews with the men and women involved in their success.
The 28-year-old is best remembered for his hurdling as he claimed the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in three successive years from 1998-2000 under Charlie Swann
Istabraq was trained by Aidan O’Brien and retired in 2002 after pulling muscles in the Champion Hurdle with the trainer desribing his home in Martinstown as ‘Heaven on Earth’.
Istabraq will be featured alongside L’Escargot, the winner of the 1970 and 1971 Gold Cups and the 1975 Grand National, Brown Lad, the only horse ever to win three Irish Grand Nationals and Monksfield, who won back to back Champion Hurdles in 1978 and 1979.
This year’s Cheltenham festival is less than a month away with the event to start on March 16.
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