Next season likely to be Honeysuckle's last on track
Jockey Rachael Blackmore with Honeysuckle at Knockeen, Waterford on Monday. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Honeysuckle’s sporting connections have expressed their intention to bring their unbeaten lady back for one more season in the hope she can join the illustrious list of three-time Champion Hurdle winners.
From this point on, whatever she may deliver on the track or, indeed, in the breeding sheds must be seen as a bonus, for her racing career has been remarkable. Last Tuesday’s successful defence of her Champion Hurdle crown brought her perfect record over hurdles to 15.
“We'll be on cloud nine for a while, I think,” said Rathmore Stud’s Peter Molony, who is racing manager to Honeysuckle’s owner, Kenny Alexander. “It's an unbelievable achievement. We were lucky enough to be there on Friday for A Plus Tard — we were floating on that too.
“When we bought Honeysuckle, we knew she had a certain level of ability after winning her point-to-point well. The aim was for her to be a nice black-type mare, but if anyone told you that they knew what she was going to become they'd be lying.
“To get any horse to the races fit and well 15 times and never be beaten, it's a mind-blowing achievement. And with a mare it's that much more difficult. The whole thing is remarkable.”
Looking ahead, he revealed: “We've spoken about it in the last few days, and I think the plan is for her to have one more season. Hopefully she'll get the chance to return to Cheltenham again next March for the Champion Hurdle.”
In a sport in which there are no ups without downs, last season’s Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle winner Telmesomethinggirl, who also runs for Alexander, was brought down when in contention for the Mares’ Hurdle, but Molony was quite philosophical about her defeat.
“She was a bit stiff and sore after coming down in the Mares' Hurdle,” Molony reported. “Rachael took a very heavy fall but must be made of iron. She was getting very excited at the time because she felt the mare was full of running — but that's National Hunt racing.
“We'll continue to do what we've been trying to do before in buying some nice potential black-type mares for Kenny and hopefully a few will take us to Cheltenham over the coming years. We'll never have something like Honeysuckle again, though.”
