IT was extremely unfortunate to learn this week that Sir Gino had succumbed to infection following an injury suffered on his final start at Cheltenham’s Trials Day meeting in January.
He was clearly a horse of outstanding potential who, even though winning two Grade 1s in open company, never got the chance to reach the heights that he might well have been capable of.
It was clear, listening to owner Marie Donnelly speak at the Cheltenham Festival, how much of a challenging year it has been for the prominent yellow and black silks, especially after reigning champion hurdler State Man was sidelined for the season through injury.
Victory for their Kitzbuhel was savoured by the same connections in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase earlier this month.
Sir Gino, held in the highest regard by all associated with him, first announced his talent as a juvenile hurdler, having been recruited from France, and history has shown just how strong a crop of three-year-old/four-year-old hurdlers he rose to the top in.
Remember, he was a short-priced favourite to win the 2024 Triumph Hurdle only to be ruled out during a disastrous week for Nicky Henderson when his string were running miles below par at the Cheltenham Festival.
In his absence, the ridiculously talented Majborough came to the fore for the first Grade 1 success of his career. He has added to that with three more since over fences, and exited this season’s Dublin Racing Festival as Ireland’s joint-highest-rated horse in training, even if he has made for a tough watch at Cheltenham in the last two seasons.
In second in that Triumph, beaten a length and a half, was none other than Kargese - winner of this season’s Arkle back at the same venue.
She’s a triple Grade 1 winner in her own right, and a dual Cheltenham Festival heroine, having also struck in last season’s County Hurdle.
Festival form
Tying that form back to Sir Gino is the fact that Kargese had a right crack at the Donnelly’s ill-fated star at the Aintree Grand National Festival in 2024, but ultimately came up three and a quarter lengths short in the Grade 1 Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle.
They pulled a further 14 lengths clear of the third-placed Kalif Du Berlais, who returned to the same track 12 months later to win the Grade 1 Maghull Novices’ Chase - adding further substance to the Sir Gino form. Sadly, Paul Nicholls’ youngster also suffered a fatal injury this season at Kempton.
On his first visit to Cheltenham for the Grade 2 Triumph Trial in January that season, the It’s Gino gelding dished out a statement 10-length beating to Burdett Road. That rival went on to be an impressive winner of the Greatwood Hurdle and runner-up in last year’s dramatic Champion Hurdle at 66/1.
Even in the Triumph that Sir Gino missed, reaching the frame in third was Salver - a big eye-catcher when reaching the frame in this year’s Grade 1 Brown Advisory behind Kitzbuhel.
Fourth-placed Nurburgring, who was only beaten a couple of lengths by Kargese at the Punchestown Festival, was another notable graduate from that juvenile crop, winning the following season’s Galway Hurdle. Like Kalif Du Berlais, he also sadly lost his life after Christmas just gone.
Strong bunch
On the theme of Galway Hurdle winners, Ndaawi, who dramatically earned his victory in the Ballybrit feature this season, was in that same crop of juvenile hurdlers as Sir Gino. He finished third in that year’s Fred Winter.
The 2024 Triumph sixth, Salvator Mundi, beat Romeo Coolio by seven lengths in Grade 1 company at Aintree a year later, while a Breeders’ Cup winner, Ethical Diamond, was lurking back in 10th under Michael O’Sullivan.
It all goes to show how strong a bunch of youngsters there were in that 2023/’24 band of juvenile hurdlers. The division has been cribbed at times as being a second home for flat horses not good enough to cut the mustard at higher grades on the level, but the competitiveness of the code is clear for all to see.
The fact that Sir Gino looked the absolute cream of the crop that season tells you just the sort of top-class talent that we were dealing with.
As his trainer summed up when announcing the news of his passing on Tuesday afternoon: “We would have to say that he was just at least as good as any of all the amazing horses we have been lucky enough to have trained.
“Unforgettable in every way.”
THE closing stages of the National Hunt season tend to be dominated by the top stables at Fairyhouse and Punchestown, but last weekend’s National Hunt results offered some hope that a decent spread of yards are in winning form ahead of the campaign’s finale.
J.P. McManus’ support of trainers of all sizes was well illustrated when the weekend’s two feature races at Navan and Limerick were captured by horses he has in the care of Jonathan Sweeney and James Motherway.
The cleverly-named Showurappreciation (a half-brother to Fred Winter winner Puturhandstogether and Sovereign Applause) has been a steady improver and brought up a hat-trick of wins with Sweeney in the €60,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Handicap Chase Final.
Uhavemeinstitches, who - like Showurappreciation - is a home-bred of Noreen McManus’, notched her biggest win yet in the Grade 3 Hugh McMahon Memorial Novice Chase for Motherway. Mark Walsh was seen to good effect on the pair.
Sharing the love
Willie Mullins still had three winners across the cards, Gavin Cromwell won a listed bumper and Henry de Bromhead landed a maiden hurdle, but there were also winners for Sarah Connell (her second of the week), David Broad, Charles Byrnes (also his second of the week), Michael McDonagh, Sean Allen and Ciaran Murphy, who sent out three winners in a row in as many days from Friday to Sunday. When it comes to the main Easter prizes, no doubt, the big guns are still bound to hold court. However, a weekend where the love was shared amongst the feature races and beyond is healthy for the game.