What you didn’t know about… Denman

Groom Lucinda Gould tells H&H about the Gold Cup winner known by fans as ‘The Tank’.

Fact file

Name: Denman

Stable name: Den or Big D

Age: 12

Height: 17.2hh

Breed: thoroughbred

Sire: Presenting

Dam: Polly Puttens

Discipline: National Hunt racing

Owner: Paul Barber

Trainer: Paul Nicholls

Groom: Lucinda Gould

Best ever result: winner of the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Five things you didn’t know

1 He was successful on the Irish point-to-pointing scene before coming over to Britain.

2 Ruby Walsh has won on him the most – six races – but he was ridden to victory in the 2008 Gold Cup by Sam Thomas.

3 He had surgery for an irregular heartbeat in September 2008 and was back in winning form the next season, when he took the 2009 Hennessy Gold Cup carrying 11st 12lb.

4 Boxer David Haye once said of the horse: “I looked into Denman’s

eyes and saw the steely determination of a champion, and he reminded me of me.”

5 In March 2008 two million people tuned in to Channel 4 to see the Cheltenham showdown between Denman and Kauto Star – more than double the number who watched Kauto win in 2007.

To read the full interview with Lucinda Gould see the 31 May issue of H&H