House has horsey history

Belmont House was formerly the home of Dawn Run’s owner, writes Tommy Barker

THERE’S both house and horse history with Waterford’s Belmont House — the 200-year-old property was previously home to Charmian Hill, the ‘galloping granny’ who rode and owned the legendary great mare, Dawn Run.

The late Charmian Hill’s name will always be associated with the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle (in England, Ireland and France) and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in a glittering mid-1980s career. The mare’s streak broke when she broke her neck in a fall in Auteuil, France, in 1986.