Hurricane Fly retired

J

JamesRB

Senior Jockey
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
2,658
Racing Post @RacingPost
BREAKING: Grade 1 world-record holder Hurricane Fly has been retired. Read now at racingpost.com
Click to expand...

caused many a debate on here. was quite possibly my favourite NH horse ever. class and toughness in equal measure. his record won't be broken for a long long time i'd imagine.
 
Champ, Legend, Hero

Legacy will last an eternity.

This thread could well end in bitterness.

I won't be getting involved in any mudslinging.

Those with doubts should step out of their swamp holes. His record speaks for itself.

What a horse.
 
Last edited:
Enjoying those ATR memories there, Getting back up from Solwhit at Punchestown there was a mighty effort.
I backed Peddlers Cross but favourite race of his would be that first CH, Cracking race and just too good for PC.
 
What a fantastic horse he has been. Not ideally suited by Cheltenham but sheer class and guts won him 2 * CH and would have been another + a Supreme Novice but for injury. Have a long and happy retirement fella


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bittersweet moment for me, but I'm glad they've taken this decision.

Will think about all the superlatives later.
 
Yep, true champion and one of the greatest competitors I've seen; he always knew he was in a race and always put his head down and battled. He will be sorely missed and is the last of the great Kauto/Denman/Big Bucks/Fly era to leave the track. We've been lucky to debate him and his performances.
 
In his career he won 24 times beating champion Hurdle winners Jezki, Rock on Ruby, Binocular and not to mention the World and Aintree hurdler Solwit.

We might remember him but because Timeform chose to keep him below that magic number to put him in the top dozen history will not and that's a damn shame...he deserves better
 
Tanlic said:
We might remember him but because Timeform chose to keep him below that magic number to put him in the top dozen history will not and that's a damn shame...he deserves better
Click to expand...

The small matter of Hurricane Fly's world-record G1 victories, and the fact that he was still winning those at 11yo, will ensure his place in history.

He will certainly be remembered far longer than some horses given erroneously-inflated TF ratings (a glance through back-copies of Chasers & Hurdlers will readily identify them).
 
Fantastic horse - one of my all-time favourites. My favourite memory is more recent from last season's Irish Champion. Seemingly beaten three flights out, Ruby crept him back into the race and as he closed in on Jezki at the final flight, Jezki blundered under pressure. But Ruby taking the Fly to the huge crowd in the unsaddling enclosure was the moment where he trascended the sport. The crowd just loved it and the bugger knew it, too!
 
He was a true champion with class, speed, courage and longevity. Ironic that a horse by Montjeu, known for throwing offspring with quirks and opinions of their own about the game, should turn into one of the most reliable, consistent and straightforward hurdlers. He's certainly right up there in the list as one of the best I've seen in my lifetime in his sphere.

He will always be remembered...dual Champion Hurdler, record-winning number of Grade 1s, unbeaten at Leopardstown, one of the triumvirate of Ruby's 'Biggest Three' to date...they are concrete facts and will stay in the memory long after a number based on an opinion has faded. I can't remember without looking it up the exact TF figure that Frankel recorded (I want to say 147 but I'd be guessing), but I can remember without trying that he was unbeaten in 14 races including 10 Group 1s and won the Guineas by six lengths...and so it is with the Fly.

I hope he has a long and healthy retirement.
 
Why am I not surprised to see all these praises after the end of 2 seasons ago when he got beat twice by Jezki? Had his career ended there he would've been nothing more than a Hardy Eustace, a GREAT who won 2 champion hurdlers by beating standard opposition in workmanlike fashion. The fact that he got back last season and won another 3 G1s because WPM kept Faugheen away(winning 3 G1s then being an outsider for the CH says it all really) got everyone u-turn and now people call him the greatest, including Ruby who comes on TV preaching us how greatness comes over time, and Willie with longevity.. LOL as if Sprinter Sacre, arguably the best 2 m chaser is because he won how many Champion chases?! just one yes.. so give me a break Ruby and others.. Form is what matters and how well the adversaries were beaten in order to climb up the ladder of the dozen best hurdlers of all time, he's not one of them in my book but he was one of the last years memorable forces in hurdling, a great to my eyes but in the bottom part of the ranking, nearside Hardy Eustace, Alderbrook, etc.
 
yea right. the truth that many believed at the end of 13/14 season, when btw was also kept apart from Annie Power and UDS(Thank WPM for how he handled it). Ruby saying how he could come from the back or from the front LOL, then why couldn't he get to ROR in `12 ? What race did he won from the front? Only time he raced up front was Morgiana in 2012 where Go Native was taking the race up if not for the fall at th last. A fastly run race exposed his weakness, thats why Ruby went slow on Faugheen in the CH. I'm not one for bashing a horse record but just making sense of why I don't regard him in the first dozen of greats of this code, TF ratings are just a confirmation. Happy retirement.

Edit: He'll be parading at Irish Champions weekend alongside Jezki, Binocular, Hardy Eustace and Faugheen for anyone interested in seeing the jump champs together.
 
Last edited:
Cruella said:
He was a true champion with class, speed, courage and longevity. Ironic that a horse by Montjeu, known for throwing offspring with quirks and opinions of their own about the game, should turn into one of the most reliable, consistent and straightforward hurdlers. He's certainly right up there in the list as one of the best I've seen in my lifetime in his sphere.

He will always be remembered...dual Champion Hurdler, record-winning number of Grade 1s, unbeaten at Leopardstown, one of the triumvirate of Ruby's 'Biggest Three' to date...they are concrete facts and will stay in the memory long after a number based on an opinion has faded. I can't remember without looking it up the exact TF figure that Frankel recorded (I want to say 147 but I'd be guessing), but I can remember without trying that he was unbeaten in 14 races including 10 Group 1s and won the Guineas by six lengths...and so it is with the Fly.

I hope he has a long and healthy retirement.
Click to expand...

some might say the achievement is in the longevity dispute being a montjeu and despite being trained by mullins

he was a fine horse but to say we won't see the like again as some have is also drivel. We are probably watching a better hurdler right now and it's not hard to envisage a three times or more champion in the future
 
Aughex said:
yea right. the truth that many believed at the end of 13/14 season, when btw was also kept apart from Annie Power and UDS(Thank WPM for how he handled it). Ruby saying how he could come from the back or from the front LOL, then why couldn't he get to ROR in `12 ? What race did he won from the front? Only time he raced up front was Morgiana in 2012 where Go Native was taking the race up if not for the fall at th last. A fastly run race exposed his weakness, thats why Ruby went slow on Faugheen in the CH. I'm not one for bashing a horse record but just making sense of why I don't regard him in the first dozen of greats of this code, TF ratings are just a confirmation. Happy retirement.
Click to expand...

Go Native had his arse handed to him every time he met Hurricane Fly.....but feel free to use your crystall-ball rather than the evidence. Also feel free to look at Hurricane Fly's career across-the-piece whilst your at it, rather than plucking one race out of thin air, or through the narrow kaleidescopes of the Cheltenham Festival, his veteran years or his Timeform rating.

As I said, utter fu*cking drivel.

Other than that, Tally-Ho and have a nice day. 😎
 
Last edited:
Grasshopper said:
Go Native had his arse handed to him every time he met Hurricane Fly.....but feel free to use your crystall-ball rather than the evidence. Also feel free to look at Hurricane Fly's career across-the-piece whilst your at it, rather than plucking one race out of thin air
Click to expand...

Ruby mentioned that race specifically in the ATR interview, I just discovered thats the only time he went from the front and Ruby in the same interview saying "whatever tactics he could" which is false when Go Native was travelling so well when falling and also considering how he folded in `14 CH after trying to follow a fast pace. His winning style was waiting and pounce which was often in Irish small fields and trying to rewrite history(by Ruby) is wrong.

Grasshopper said:
through the narrow kaleidescopes of the Cheltenham Festival
Click to expand...
Thats where jump champions are made, so one has to judge on those races.
 
Aughex said:
Thats where jump champions are made, so one has to judge on those races.
Click to expand...

At least your admitting to Cheltenham myopia.

You can mention Hardy Eustace in the same breath as Hurricane Fly, the day his record shows 5 x Irish Champion wins, 4 x Festival Hurdles and 4 x Punchestown Champion wins.
 
Back
Top