Which races constitute the so-called 'Triple Crown of Hurdling'?

As the same suggest, the Triple Crown of Hurdling consists of a trio of Grade 1 hurdle races, in which horses compete at level weights, but with allowances for age and gender, over the minimum distance of two miles, or thereabouts. In chronological order, as far as the British National Hunt calendar is concerned, the races in question are the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park and the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The Champion Hurdle, run over an official distance of 2 miles and 87 yards on the Old Course at Prestbury Park in March, is far and away the oldest of the three, having been established, under the auspices of the 'indefatigable' Frederick Cathcart, in 1927. The Fighting Fifth Hurdle, which takes its name from the nickname of the former Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and is run over 2 miles and 46 yards in late November or early December, and the Christmas Hurdle, run over 2 miles on Boxing Day, are more recent additions to the programme, having both been inaugurated in 1969.

In the last four decades or so, a dozen horses, including the likes of Sea Pigeon, Dawn Run and, more recently, Faugheen, have won two of the three races. Perhaps the unluckiest loser of all, though, was Punjabi, trained by Nicky Henderson, who was a narrow winner of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle but, in between times, fell at the second-last flight, when nearly upsides, in the Christmas Hurdle; in so doing, he missed out on a £1,000,000 bonus, offered by the now-defunct World Bet Exchange (WBX), for winning all three races.

In fact, no horse ever won the bonus, which was only offered between 2006 and 2010 but, beforehand, Kribensis, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, won the Triple Crown of Hurdling in 1989/90 and, afterwards, Buveur D'Air and Constitution Hill, both trained by Nicky Henderson, did so again in 2017/18 and 2022/23. The hitherto unbeaten Constitution Hill is pencilled in for all three races, once again, in 2023/24, so may well repeat the feat for the second season running.

Which horses finished first, second and third in the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup?

The history books record that the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by the 15/8 favourite Dawn Run, trained by Paddy Mullins and ridden by Jonjo O'Neill, but younger readers may ask, with some justification, 'So what?' Well, it would be fair to say that the bare result in no way does justice to what turned out to be a monumental event in the history of National Hunt racing.

Two years previously, Dawn Run had justified odds-on favouritism in the Champion Hurdle, under O'Neill, but despite making a winning start to her steeplechasing career at Navan in November, 1984, missed her intended target at the 1985 Cheltenham Festival, the Sun Alliance Chase, with ligament damage. Consequently, when she returned to the Festival in 1986, she had raced just five times over fences and unseated her regular jockey, Tony Mullins, in her preparatory race for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Holsten Distributors Chase – now the Cotswold Chase – two months previously.

In the Cheltenham Gold Cup itself, Dawn Run was controversially reunited with O'Neill and, despite her inexperience, was sent off an optimistic favourite in a vintage renewal of the Blue Riband event. The opposition included first three home in the 1985 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Forgive 'N Forget, Righthand Man and Earls Brig, the first three home in the 1985 King George VI Chase, Wayward Lad, Combs Ditch and Earls Brig, again, and the Welsh National winner, Run And Skip.

Dawn Run led over the second-last fence, but was joined, and passed, by Wayward Lad and Forgive 'N Forget on the run to the final fence and, briefly, looked booked for third place at best. The veteran Wayward Lad took a two-length lead on the run-in, which he held until 50 yards or so from the winning post but, switched to the centre of the course and galvanised by O'Neill, Dawn Run overhauled the tiring leader to win by a length in record time. Thus, she became the first horse in history to complete the Champion Hurdle – Cheltenham Gold Cup double. For the record, Forgive 'N Forget finished third, a further 2½ lengths away.