Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1989 Champion Hurdle

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The 1989 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 14 March 1989. It was the 60th running of the Champion Hurdle.

Contents

The winner was Tony Geake's Beech Road, a seven-year-old chestnut gelding trained in Hampshire by Toby Balding and ridden by Richard Guest. Beech Road's victory was a first in the race for jockey, trainer and owner.

Beech Road had established himself as a useful handicap hurdler in his early career but failed to complete the course when tried over fences on two occasions in the early part of the 1988/1989 National Hunt season. He was switched back to hurdling and earned a place in the championship with a twenty length win in the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell Racecourse in February. In the 1989 Champion Hurdle he started a 50/1 outsider and won by two lengths from Celtic Chief, with the 1988 winner Celtic Shot in third place. The 11/8 favourite Kribensis finished seventh. Twelve of the fifteen runners completed the course.

Race details

  • Sponsor: Waterford Crystal
  • Purse: £83,614; First prize: £50,206
  • Going: Good to Soft
  • Distance: 2 miles
  • Number of runners: 15
  • Winner's time: 4m 02.10

    • Full result

  • Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider; PU = pulled up; LFT = left at start; SU = slipped up; BD = brought down

    • Winner's details

    Further details of the winner, Beech Road

  • Sex: Gelding
  • Foaled: 8 April 1982
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Sire: Nearly A Hand; Dam: North Bovey (Flush Royal)
  • Owner: Tony Geake
  • Breeder: J. Tilling

    • References

    1989 Champion Hurdle Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA