is there a horse called 'dawn bush' (or similar name) running in cheltemham this year?

Answer 1

NO, perhaps you have been watching the coverage on the TV and heard them referring to DAWN RUN?

Dawn Run was born in 1978 in County Cork, Ireland. She was bought for 5,800 guineas by Charmaine Hill and would be trained in Ireland by Paddy Mullins.

She made his debut at Clonmel in a National Hunt flat race but failed to win. It would be her third start before she manage to win. After the three races over bumpers she turned to hurdling. Her hurdling potential was obvious straight away and she would finish second in the 1983 Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham. It was a good start as the race is one of the top novices event in the UK. She would go on and win a competitive hurdle at Aintree in her next race.

The following day she would run again but could only finish second to the classy Gaye Brief in the Templegate Hurdle. It was another good performance though and showed how tough she was.

In her next season she would win the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton in December and then went on to win the Irish Champion Hurdle.

In March 1984 Dawn Run returned to Cheltenham to run in the top hurdle race of the season the Champion Hurdle, where she would start at odds-on favourite. She would win the race but it was not as convincing as everybody was expecting, a very narrow win over Cima.

Dawn Run completed an amazing hat-trick the following month by winning the French Champion Hurdle at Autueil.

A year later Dawn Run would turn to chasing. In March 1986 she completed an historic feat, becoming the first horse in history to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup. The feat has never been equalled since. The horse had become a huge favourite with the public and she received a huge reception after the victory. The race was very tough, having to show her strength yet again to catch Wayward Lad at the winning line.