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Valegro, Big Star, Sprinter Sacre and Chilli Morning: unique chance to see all four equine superstars


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  • Rio legends Valegro, Chilli Morning and Big Star together with their long-serving grooms will parade in front of their fans at Cheltenham.

    The trio will be joined by charismatic chaser Sprinter Sacre, who retired from his stellar racing career last year.

    The one-off parade will take place on day two of Cheltenham’s April meeting (20 April).

    Alongside the equine heroes will be those who have cared for them.

    These are: Alan Davies, who has travelled all across the world with Valegro; Mark Beever, who has been at the heart of Nick Skelton’s team for 35 years; William Fox-Pitt’s head girl of 25 years, Jackie Potts; and head lad Corky Browne, who has been at Nicky Henderson’s yard for 40 years.

    They will parade in the paddock at around 5.50pm, ahead of the start of the Pertemps Champions Willberry Charity Flat race at 6.15pm.

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    Former eventer Chilli Morning became the first stallion to win Badminton, taking the 2015 title with William Fox-Pitt.

    The combination finished 12th at the 2016 Olympics and the son of Phantomic has retired to stud.

    Rio was also the final competition for dressage superstar Valegro, who successfully defended his London 2012 Olympic gold with Charlotte Dujardin. He officially retired in an emotional send-off at Olympia in December.

    Meanwhile, Big Star is the only one of the four still competing. Described by Nick as the “best horse he has ever ridden”, the combination won team gold at London 2012 and took top individual honours at last year’s Olympics.

    Meanwhile, Sprinter Sacre won an amazing 18 out of 24 races during his career on the track, including a 19-length victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.

    He returned from a series of setbacks to regain the Queen Mother Champion Chase crown in 2016 to tremendous acclaim.

    For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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