For readers unfamiliar with the name, Sprinter Sacre was the outstanding two-mile steeplechaser of his generation who, between February, 2010 and April, 2016, won 18 of his 24 races and earned in excess of £1.1 in prize money. Owned by Caroline Mould and trained by Nicky Henderson at Seven Barrows in Upper Lambourn, Berkshire, the Network gelding was sent over fences in December, 2011 and duly embarked on a winning streak of 10 races, the last seven of which were all at the highest, Grade 1 level and included the Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Indeed, his performance in the latter race in 2013, when he started at odds of 1/4, was never off the bridle and sauntered clear in the closing stages to beat the 2011 winner, Sizing Europe, was described by Timeform as ‘one of the greatest in the history of National Hunt racing’. At that stage, he was awarded a Timeform rating of 192p – the ‘p’ indicating he was ‘ likely to make more than normal progress and to improve on his rating’ – which remains the third highest awarded to a steeplechaser, behind only Arkle and Flyingbolt.
On his reappearance at Kempton Park in December, 2013, Sprinter Sacre was pulled up and subsequently diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, from which he recovered, but nonetheless did not race again until January, 2015. On his return, he was beaten, at odds-on, by Dodging Bullets, trained by Paul Nicholls, in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot and pulled up, when favourite, behind the same horse in in the Queen Mother Champion Chase two months later.
The last horse to beat Sprinter Sacre, though, was Special Tiara, trained by Henry De Bromhead, who did so in the Celebration Chase at Sandown Park in April, 2015. Although never quite the force of old, Sprinter Sacre returned to something approaching his best in 2015/16, winning all four starts, including a second Queen Mother Champion Chase, before suffering a tendon injury and being retired in November, 2016.