The 1994 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 15 March 1994. It was the 65th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The winner was J. T. Price's Flakey Dove, an eight-year-old bay mare trained in Herefordshire by Richard Price and ridden by Mark Dwyer. Flakey Dove's victory was a first in the race for jockey, trainer and owner and the third in the race for a female racehorse after African Sister in 1939 and Dawn Run in 1984.
Flakey Dove was a non-Thoroughbred mare, who had made steady improvement since finishing seventh in the 1993 Champion Hurdle and emerged as a legitimate contender for the following year's renewal with wins in the Champion Hurdle Trial, Cleeve Hurdle, then a Grade 1 race run over 2 miles and 5 furlongs, and Berkshire Hurdle in early 1994. Starting at odds of 9/1 she won the Champion Hurdle by one and a half lengths from the favourite Oh So Risky with Large Action in third place. Two previous winners of the race took part: Granville Again finished seventh, whilst Morley Street was pulled up after four hurdles. Eleven of the fifteen runners completed the course.Racing Post
Race details Sponsor: Smurfit Purse: £166,742; First prize: £99,933 Going: Good to Soft Distance: 2 miles 110 yards Number of runners: 15 Winner's time: 4m 02.30
Full result Pos. Marg. Horse (bred) Age Jockey Trainer (Country) Odds 1 Flakey Dove (GB) 8 Mark Dwyer Richard Price (GB) 9/1 2 1½ Oh So Risky (GB) 7 Paul Holley David Elsworth (GB) 9/4 fav 3 ¾ Large Action (IRE) 6 Jamie Osborne Oliver Sherwood (GB) 8/1 4 4½ Mole Board (GB) 12 Tom Grantham Jim Old (GB) 40/1 5 5 Absalom's Lady (GB) 6 Simon McNeill David Elsworth (GB) 33/1 6 nk Muse (GB) 7 Mark Richards David Elsworth (GB) 13/2 7 3½ Granville Again (GB) 8 Jimmy Frost Martin Pipe (GB) 10/1 8 2½ Shawiya (IRE) 5 Charlie Swan M. J. P. O'Brien (IRE) 16/1 9 4 Halkopous (GB) 8 Declan Murphy Mark Tompkins (GB) 13/2 10 25 Valfinet (FR) 7 Jonothon Lower Martin Pipe (GB) 33/1 11 7 High Baron (GB) 7 Michael Hourigan Robert Alner (GB) 66/1 Fell Merchant House (IRE) 6 Richard Guest R. J. Weaver (GB) 250/1 Fell Land Afar (GB) 7 Warren Marston John Webber (GB) 25/1 PU Morley Street (GB) 10 Graham Bradley Toby Balding (GB) 16/1 PU King Credo (GB) 9 Adrian Maguire Steve Woodman (GB) 16/1 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, Flakey Dove Sex: Mare Foaled: 1986 Country: United Kingdom Sire: Oats; Dam: Shadey Dove (Deadly Nightshade) Owner: J. T. Price Breeder: J. T. Price
References