Kauto Star and Denman delight crowds at Cheltenham Festival [PICS]
Gold Cup winners Kauto Star and Denman headed a star-studded parade of former racehorses on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival (11 March).
The former stable mates from Paul Nicholls’ yard received a huge reception from the Cheltenham crowd.
Kauto Star is now being trained as a dressage horse by eventer Laura Collett and Denman has been introduced to hunting and team chasing by Charlotte Alexander.
Denman suffered a life-threatening bone and blood infection last year and spent 5 months in an equine hospital, but he has now made a full recovery and Charlotte looked to have her hands full.
The parade was the first of this year’s Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) parades, which were introduced in 2008 and are now an established part of major jump racing festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree, as well as Ascot’s King George Day in July.
“There was a real buzz around the parade ring, with owners and trainers also thrilled to see their horses looking so well and enjoying life after racing,” said RoR chief executive Di Arbuthnot.
“We are delighted with the response from racing audiences and the increasing popularity of these parades, they are now very much part of the major festivals’ calendar.”
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Other former racehorses who also took part in the parade were:
- BLAZING BAILEY (Hunting) – Sarah Welford
- CRYSTAL D’AINAY (Team Chase/Hunter Trials) – Charlotte Burke
- MONKERHOSTIN (Hunting) – George Beilby
- BARBER’S SHOP (Showing) – Katie Jerram
- MIKO DE BEAUCHENE (Hunting) – Tracey Phillips
- LIGHTENING STRIKE (Hunting) – Sharon Francis
- DEEP REFLECTION (Showing) – Helen Newbold
- ASHKAZAR (Hunting) – Verity Murphy
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.