Five great winners of the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury

After winning the Coral Welsh Grand National in 1983, the Jenny Pitman trained Burrough Hill Lad produced a series of stunning performances. He gave 21lb a a four length beating to RSA chase winner Canny Danny under top weight of 12st in the 1984 Hennessy when given an ultra-confident ride by John Francome before going on to land the King George at Kempton and Cheltenham Gold Cup. His career was then blighted with injury but he undoubtedly produced one of the best weight carrying performance of the modern era when landing the Hennessy.

Denman (2007/2009)

Known as “The Tank”, the Paul Nicholls trained Denman destroyed the field under an attacking ride to land the 2007 Hennessy before going to to beat legendary stablemate Kauto Star by seven lengths in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He Then become the first since Arkle to win a second Hennessy in 2009, with the only other to achieve such a feat being Mandarin. Not only had Denman equalled those great horses, but he had done so following a remarkable comeback from a heart ailment which at one stage threatened not just his racing career but his life.

One Man (1994)

The Gordon Richards trained popular grey won 20 of 35 races and ran out one of the easiest winners in the history of the Hennessy when taking along throughout and pulling effortlessly clear to win by a wide margin. One Man went on to land back-to-back runnings of the King George at Kempton in 1995/96 before landing the 1998 renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He was renowned for his jumping ability and high cruising speed and adopted by many as the new Desert Orchid.

Related

For more horse racing content, check out our dedicated archive.