Honeysuckle

Kenny Alexander, the owner of the great hurdler Honeysuckle and former head of the parent company of Ladbrokes, is one of 11 people charged as part of an investigation into the provision of gambling services in Turkey. Alexander, the former chief executive of the then GVC Holdings, now known as Entain, was charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe between 2011 and 2018, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). His silks have been a familiar sight on the biggest stages in National Hunt racing, most notably with...

Nicky Henderson and Henry de Bromhead have spoken out against the rumoured changes to the National Hunt programme in Britain that would see Grade 1 winners not being qualified to run in the Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.  Dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle signed off on her glittering career for de Bromhead by notching a 13th Grade 1 and a second Mares' Hurdle success in what many people describe as one of the greatest moments in Cheltenham Festival history back in 2023.  Henderson has trained a galaxy of star...

Kenny Alexander, the owner of Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}), has donated a specific set of racing colours which will be offered as part of the Goffs Punchestown Sale next week, the sales company announced on Friday. Signed by Rachael Blackmore, Henry De Bromhead and Alexander, the silks were worn by Blackmore in all of Honeysuckle's major races, including her four Cheltenham Festival victories. The silks are offered to support the ChildVision indoor equine therapeutic centre named in memory of Jack De Bromhead, which will be built this year. The catalogue...

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexander, says he cannot split the powerful owner's Jade De Grugy (Fr), Kargese (Fr) and previous Cheltenham Festival scorer Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) when it comes to picking the operation's best chance of a winner at Prestbury Park next week.  The Rathmore Stud boss also provided a passionate riposte to some of the criticism being levelled at the mares' races at the Cheltenham Festival by stating that their horse of a lifetime Honeysuckle (GB) may never have seen a racetrack had it not been for the...

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com I have been fortunate to experience many wonderful days racing, but NEVER I have EVER heard a crowd response like when the two Queens of National Hunt racing, HONEYSUCKLE and Rachael Blackmore, returned to the Cheltenham winner enclosure the after the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle (The David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle) in March of this year. The place was packed 20 deep, it went wild, it was...

Irish Racing Yearbook 2024, an annual chronicle of horse racing in Ireland, the achievements of Irish people on foreign soil while covering the entire spectrum of the sport of racing and thoroughbred industry in the form of interviews, profiles, analysis and more, is now available for purchase. The collection is a collaboration of the best writers and photographers with the leading protagonists in all spheres from breeding to sales, from point-to-point tracks to the racecourse. The cover story is written by Donn McClean, providing insight from three-time Gold Cup winner...

History-making jockey Rachael Blackmore, who in 2021 became the first woman to ride the winner of the Grand National, has been made an honorary MBE for services to sport. After landing Aintree's famous race aboard Minella Times (Ire), Blackmore, 33, also won the following season's Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard (Fr). The Irish jockey was crowned leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021, the same year she won the BBC Sports Personality's World Sport Star of the Year award. Notably, she forged a famous partnership with the...

A total of 15 point-to-point entries have been catalogued so far for the 2023 Goffs UK Aintree Sale on Apr. 13. Held in the winners' enclosure following the last race on the card, additional entries will be released in the coming days. Star alumni of the sale include Grade 1 winners Constitution Hill (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}), Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}), Jonbon (Fr) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), and Ahoy Senor (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) among others. Included in the catalogue are Illico De Cotte (Fr) (Kitkou {Fr}) (lot 112),...

CHELTENHAM, UK--One champion crowned as another exits. But there was no quiet shuffling off, stage left, for Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}), who was roared home, roared in, and roared out of the Cheltenham winner's circle that provides no better setting for equine coronations.  Just forty minutes earlier the new king of the hurdling division, Constitution Hill (GB), had delivered exactly the performance expected of him but one which can never be guaranteed in the hurly-burly of championship races at the Festival. Plenty of commentators are already suggesting that the son...

Venturing fearlessly into jumps territory this week, this correspondent would never be so bold as to offer tips or predictions for the Cheltenham Festival. There is only one safe bet to be had, and that is that Keeneland's indefatigable European representative Ed Prosser will be up with the larks to cook the finest Full English for his housemates, and at some stage over the next four days will serenade us with his inimitable version of Rhinestone Cowboy. The Prosser baritone is certainly much easier on the ears than the newly...

Kenny Alexander's dual Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) will make her swansong in the G1 Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle at next month's Cheltenham Festival. The 9-year-old was beaten for the first time in 16 starts when tackling the Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December, in which she was third. She went on to finish runner-up to State Man (Ire) in last weekend's Irish Champion Hurdle, a race she had won for the three previous seasons. A 12-time Grade 1 victrix, Honeysuckle is also a treble winner at the...

A large part of the fun that comes with following racing and the bloodstock game is predicting the future. Who will win the Derby? Who might top the Orby Sale? What freshman sires are here to stay and which ones will drift into the abyss? Well, we've looked deep into the TDN Europe crystal ball for 2023 to see if we can come up with the answers to the burning questions for the year ahead. Enjoy! January If you think he had a good Christmas, wait until you see how...