Aidan O'Brien has described Istabraq as an "almost mystical character" for the legacy he left after it emerged one of modern jump racing's most iconic equine superstars has died at JP McManus's Martinstown home at 32 years of age.
The hugely popular ex-flat horse was trained by O'Brien to win three Champion Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival between 1998 and 2000, having also won the old Royal Sunalliance Novices' Hurdle there in 1997. Only two months ago, on his birthday, May 23, he was pictured at the center of a large gathering of his doting connections, with McManus, O'Brien, and Charlie Swan, synonymous with the son of Sadler's Wells throughout his jumps career, all in attendance.
In a short statement issued July 25, McManus said: "Sadly, Istabraq passed away at 1:15 a.m. this morning at the ripe old age of 32. He was a very special horse who gave us many great days of fun and enjoyment. Our thanks to Lara Hegarty, Johnny O'Brienm, and all the staff at Martinstown who took such fantastic care of him over many years. We are pleased that we gave him a good celebration for his most recent birthday in May. He leaves Noreen, myself, and the family with wonderful memories."
Only four other horses have won the Champion Hurdle three times, and Istabraq's chance to become the single most successful horse in the history of the race was cruelly thwarted by the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, which caused the Cotswolds gala to be cancelled.
However, his place in the pantheon of all-time greats is secure. Sporting McManus's famous green and gold hooped silks, Istabraq and Swan became one of jump racing's most revered standing dishes of the late 20th century, with their 12-length evisceration of stablemate Theatreworld in the 1998 Champion Hurdle a signature performance that marked him out as a truly rare talent. Apart from their four victories at Cheltenham, the legendary partnership also combined to plunder four Irish Champion Hurdles, an Aintree Hurdle and two Hatton's Grace Hurdles.
In all, they combined for 14 grade 1 successes and won 23 of their 29 outings together over flights, with Istabraq indisputably becoming that rare thing for racehorses these days—a household name. Retired after being pulled up early in the 2002 Champion Hurdle, he had spent his remaining days at Martinstown.
Speaking on the morning of July 25, O'Brien, who described that mind-blowing first Champion Hurdle display as "unbelievable", spoke glowingly of the horse that catapulted him into the big-time.
"He was an incredible horse and he was very lucky that he was owned by JP and Noreen, and to be ridden by Charlie. For us, he was a horse of a lifetime and he was like one of the family here because our lads were tiny at the time so he was part of the family," he said.
"We were down there for his birthday and it was incredible to see him. He was treated like an absolute god through every part of his life really and he seemed super that day. The amount of letters and the visitors and everything. People who are at the coal face in racing now, when they were growing up Istabraq was in his prime, so you would still hear people talking about him. He was kind of an almost mystical character really and it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to get a horse like him."
Having won two of his 11 starts on the flat for John Gosden and owner/breeder Hamdan Al Maktoum, Istabraq was sourced as a 4-year-old by Timmy Hyde and his son-in-law John Durkan, who had been working for Gosden but tragically died in January 1998 after being struck down with leukemia just months after acquiring the horse as he assembled a team to begin his own training career. Durkan was in O'Brien's thoughts when he heard the news of Istabraq's death.
"We also have to remember John; it was well known that we were kind of looking after him for John. JP and Noreen bought him for John to train," he recalled.
"JP just loved him and they looked after him so well in Martinstown. I was down there a couple of times recently to see him, we'd often go over there to see him," he said. "Lara used to look after him so well down there. They all did, but she was very close to him so it's hard on her now."
