Beloved hurdler Istabraq enjoyed his very own birthday party on reaching the ripe age of 30 on Monday.
The Sadler’s Wells gelding is an all-time great of the hurdling division, a 25-time winner whose three consecutive Champion Hurdles and four successive Irish Champion Hurdles are the stuff of folklore among sworn-in racing fans and casual onlookers alike.
Alongside that infallible run in Champion Hurdles both sides of the Irish Sea, the bay was triumphant in a host of other big races and amassed over £1million in prize money while jointly becoming the second-highest rated hurdler of all time in the eyes of Timeform.
