Famous Long Walk Hurdle Winners
The Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot is traditionally the final Grade 1 race in Britain ahead of Christmas Day.
The three-mile stayers’ event has been a top-level race since 1990 and six winners of the Long Walk Hurdle have gone on to win the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in the same season.
Here we recall some famous winners of the Ascot race, staged on the last Saturday before Christmas.
Long Walk Hurdle Winners Baracouda (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
The most successful horse in Long Walk history was the French raider Baracouda for trainer François Doumen, as he won four renewals after the turn of this century.
Baracouda landed a pair of Long Walk doubles in 2000/2001 and then again in 2003/2004. He was a regular visitor to Britain, also winning the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury twice and the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2002 and 2003.
He won three Long Walks for owner JP McManus under Thierry Doumen, while his final success was in the hands of AP McCoy and came at Windsor, as Ascot underwent redevelopment.
Long Walk Hurdle Winners Big Buck’s (2009, 2010, 2011)
Big Buck’s established himself as one of the great staying hurdlers of all-time during an insatiable winning run that lasted 18 races and was a record over jumps until Altior came along and broke it.
His CV included three Long Walk wins at Ascot for trainer Paul Nicholls from 2009-2011. Ruby Walsh was on board for two of them, while McCoy stepped in for the middle success.
He raced in the colours of Andy Stewart and also won a record four successive Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival from 2009 onwards.
Long Walk Hurdle Winners Reve De Sivola (2012, 2013, 2014)
The Nick Williams-trained Reve De Sivola succeeded Big Buck’s and then emulated him by winning a hat-trick of Long Walk Hurdles under Richard Johnson (twice) and Daryl Jacob.
Like Big Buck’s, he had tried his hand over fences, but was 1-10 in that sphere when connections took on the Ditcheat powerhouse at Newbury in December 2012, finishing second back over timber and then going to win a first Long Walk three weeks later.
Reve De Sivola only won eight of 34 starts over hurdles, but he loved Ascot and this race, with his three wins in the Grade 1 contest accounting for three of the four races he won in total between 2012-2014.
He was incredibly determined, with his 2014 defeat of odds-on favourite Zarkandar a particular nod to that trait. He ran in two more renewals in 2015 and 2016 before retirement.
Long Walk Hurdle Winners Paisley Park (2018, 2020, 2022)
Paisley Park won this race three times across a five-year span as he belied setbacks and loss of form to cement his status as one of the most popular performers of recent years.
His first win in 2018 came amid a rapid ascent from handicapper to Grade 1 star, winning all five starts that season including the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Emma Lavelle’s charge tended to hit some flat spots in his races, but he often rallied.
He had some issues but battled back for an Indian Summer, winning this race when it was run at Kempton in 2022, before being denied in a head-bobber behind youngster Crambo back at Ascot in December 2023. He was retired at the end of that season.
Paisley Park and his owner, Andrew Gemmell, made for an incredibly popular and enduring duo.
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