The Legend of Sea Pigeon

As Hurricane Fly prepares to bid to achieve the rare feat of winning three Champion Hurdles, and further press his claims to equine immortality, I thought, for those interested in such things, I'd dust down an old form book and relate some often overlookied details of the horse who was the best 2 mile hurdler I've seen.

The details of Sea Pigeon's battles with Monksfield and his two Champion Hurdle wins are widely known. However, he also put up the two most extraordinary performances I've witnessed much earlier in his career. This is the story of his 1976-77 season when he was 6, rising 7  in his third season hurdling.

Sea Pigeon kicked of with an "impressive" 5 length win at Ayr in October, carrying 12-7 in a handicap on firm going. (The runner-up himself won under 12-1 over course and distance later in the season).

He turned out again just a week later but was well beaten over 2m4f at Kempton by Lanzarote. One of the extraordinary things about Sea Pigeon was that, despite winning two Chester Cups and an Ebor under top weight, he never prospered over trips longer than two miles over hurdles.

After Kempton, owner Pat Muldoon transferred his horses from Gordon Richards to Peter Easterby. Sea Pigeon made his debut for that stable in the Embassy Handicap Hurdle at Haydock, a good prize in itself, and a recognised trial for the Schweppes (Betfair) Hurdle.
Sea Pigeon carried 12-2 that day and, as ever, stalked a big field. He made mistakes down the back and seemed to be going nowhere. Turning into the straight, he was plumb last. His new jockey, Ian Watkinson, pulled him wide. There was no point putting him under pressure as Sea Pigeon was not a horse who ever did much for the whip. He merely "clicked in his ear" as they approached three out and the horse took off. I met Watkinson many years later and he still maintained that he was speechless about what happened next. Eleventh two out, and only seventh at the last, Sea Pigeon ran away from his field to win in a canter by seven lengths. The form stacked up, too. The runner up, Gathering Storm, (received 33 pounds) won his next race, the fourth horse, Tanora, won off 12-5 later that season and the fifth horse, True Lad, (received 26 pounds, beaten 16 lengths) won the Schweppes next time out.

From Haydock, Sea Pigeon went for the Champion Hurdle. The prevailing wisdom was that he could not act on soft going and Jonjo O'Neill took him as wide as it is possible to go - out of sight of the camera for much of the descent, although the rest of the field, including stablemate and winner Night Nurse, who was also thought to detest the soft, hugged the inner. The combination of his detour round Tewkesbury, the heavy going, and the extended 2m1f trip saw Sea Pigeon's run peter out at the last and he finished an eight length fourth.

Despite that sapping race, Sea Pigeon turned out again at Aintree in the Allied Manufacturing Handicap Hurdle against a hugely strong field. This time he was burdened with 12-6. This time he was less spectacular than at Haydock, but, in winning by two lengths, achieved what Julian Wilson referred to as "impossible".
The runner-up, Multiple (received 37 pounds) bolted up by seven lengths at Aintree again the next day. The third horse, Flying Diplomat, (28 pounds) had been a close runner-up in the Schweppes. Top mare Mwanadike, back in fourth, had finished runner-up under 11-8 in the County Hurdle last time out, yet received 20 pounds from Sea Pigeon and was beaten 8 lengths. Next time out, at the Punchestown Festival, she finished just ahead of Champion Hurdle runner-up, Monksfield, at a difference of only 16 pounds. And, finally, in fifth was Troyswood who won a handicap at Fairyhouse next time out off 11-5, yet was beaten 17 lengths by Sea Pigeon, receiving 27 pounds.
Sea Pigeon had missed the Schweppes, for which he'd been a leading fancy, despite being scheduled to carry a colossal weight, on account of the heavy ground. Any reading of his form with those who ran in it would have had him winning that race with well over 13 stone! Ratings were never mentioned in those days, so it's hard to quantify just what he achieved yet, using the highly reliable Mwanadike as a benchmark, it would be very hard to rate her less than 155 and that would imply that Sea Pigeon was probably running to a mark of around 185. And, in the Haydock race, he won as he pleased.

Just to complete a remarkable season, Sea Pigeon also added the Scottish Champion Hurdle in April.

The culling of the Champion Hurdle distance by a furlong (and, just as important, the removing of the steep climb up past the winning post to the top of the course) removed a strange and unwelcome anomaly. Had that been done earlier, and had Sea Pigeon's connections realised earlier that he could handle soft ground very well (his final victory in the Champion was on ground as heavy as its ever been) then he may well have notched four or five Champion Hurdles. For me, he remains the best 2 mile hurdler we've seen. No horse will probably ever be asked to even attempt the feats that he achieved but, as with Arkle, those races are the ones which emphasise his greatness. As a come from behind horse, it was often impossible to know how far he was superior to his opponents yet, handicapped with immense burdens and shrugging them off with impunity, his greatness was truly defined.