in a In a farm barn, a black and white cat named Ninja prowls mischievously and tries his best, but fails, to catch everyone’s eyes.
So is a sturdy bay horse affectionately known as ‘Gil’. He’s used to camera crews coming to his stable, but every once in a while he’d like people to focus on him, so he scrapes the ground impatiently with his hooves. A couple of carrots and a neck massage later and everything is fine again.
Gil (short for Gilgamboa) knows his place in the pecking order and he also knows why we are here, at JP McManus’ perfect Martinstown Stud in County Limerick. In the painting opposite is photographed the horse that had the stealth of a cat, a lion’s heart and was the largest to jump a fence.
You see, Istabraq was always the center of attention. And even now, at the astonishing age of 32, he still is.
Sports legends come in all shapes and sizes, but there is no doubt that the animal in front of us deserves that label. He did extraordinary things on a racecourse and it is always at this time of year, as the wonder of Cheltenham approaches, that the mind returns to his exploits.
Istabraq took four consecutive victories at the Cheltenham Festival from 1997 to 2000.
Istabraq, for a glorious period at the turn of the century, was effectively Cheltenham. There were four consecutive victories at the Festival, one in the Royal & Sun Alliance Novice’s Hurdle (1997) before a fabulous hat-trick in the Champion Hurdle (1998-2000).
‘It’s like seeing an old friend when I walk into his stable…he still looks amazing, doesn’t he?’ says Charlie Swan, the man who rode him in all 29 of his steeplechase races, winning an incredible 23 (14 of which were at Grade One level) and looting more than £1 million in prize money.
However, there is more to this than numbers. Istabraq, with those green and gold colors of its owner, became the pride of Ireland; His legacy is such that he became the subject of Europe’s largest equine painting (13ft by 10ft) which adorns a wall at Dublin Airport and took two years to complete.
This is no ordinary horse and it is no ordinary story, for despite all the happiness, there was a tragic subplot surrounding a brilliant young man and former jockey named John Durkan, whose faith in Istabraq was unwavering and he advised McManus to buy him for £38,000 from flat trainer John Gosden.
The intention was for Durkan to train Istabraq at Newmarket, but when he fell ill in late 1996 he advised McManus to send him to then-up-and-coming trainer Aidan O’Brien. Durkan succumbed to leukemia in January 1998. He was only 31 years old.
Jockey Charlie Swan celebrates with Istabraq after winning the Champion Hurdle
Swan won his third consecutive Champion Hurdle aboard Istabraq in 2000 (above)
O’Brien, however, ensured Durkan’s legacy lived on through the relentless galloping and spring-heeled jumping that made Istabraq as popular in the UK as he was across the Irish Sea. You can see the joy in Swan’s eyes as he begins to remember.
“The first day I went to school I knew he was different,” says Swan, who was a nine-time Irish champion showjumper. ‘He loved to jump. Most horses, when you are teaching them, take a look around. Noel. He just left. From day one he had this great technique.
‘Even when he approached an obstacle, he would land running. It was very fast. Aidan is a master trainer. His jumps made it fast. He had stamina and he was also fast and that made him so formidable. He was amazing, so easy to deal with.”
When they won their first Champion Hurdle, in 1998, the pair went up the Cheltenham hill like a bullet from a gun. It became a recurring theme, but the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, which forced the Festival to be canceled in 2001, prevented them from winning four in a row.
This week, his story has taken on a new shine. Constitution Hill, touted as having the potential to go to a kingdom that fate prevented Istabraq from reaching, could be denied his chance to make history as illness threatens his participation in this year’s race.
“I would have won in 2001,” Swan says. “He was in very good shape.” Istabraq tried to make history 12 months later, but fell on the field after two flights and was stopped by Swan.
The legendary Istabraq retired at Martinstown Stud with his boyfriend Lara Hegart
Everyone knew that it would mean retiring and, therefore, a spontaneous and emotional ovation spread across the field.
“Normally people boo if you pick a favorite, but the reception was incredible,” recalls Swan, now 56. ‘Coming back down the slide, everyone was there showing their appreciation for him. JP liked that everyone accepted him. When you have a good horse, you want everyone to enjoy him.’
McManus must be confident that that has absolutely been the case. Istabraq now spends his days in the most luxurious retirement home imaginable, a paradise spanning 610 acres with perfectly manicured paddocks and staff who take on tasks as a calling rather than a job.
As well as Istabraq and his best friend Gilgamboa, Don’t Push It and Minella Times, McManus’s two Randox Grand National winners, and Jezki, More Of That, Binocular and Defi Du Seuil, all Cheltenham heroes, are also here . .
Johnny O’Brien, director of Martinstown since 1998, gives a guided tour and it becomes clear why Swan says the residents “are treated like royalty” as they lack for nothing. However, everyone knows who the star of the show is.
“He’s just a suitable character,” says Lara Hegarty, who has cared for Istabraq for the past seven years. ‘She is getting older but there is a lot of life in “Braq”, as we call him. He will take off if you leave the stable door open. He is like a child and will throw a tantrum if he doesn’t get his way. To prove this point, Istabraq makes his way past Lara and tries to reach the light of day.
He accompanies you and not the other way around! she adds. ‘You have to take it out for a good period of time. When he goes out into her field, he will find the muddiest place and wallow in it. Every day you will see him, absolutely dirty. Then he will come in and demolish your food.
Istabraq will receive his own cake, filled with horse feed, apples and carrots, on his birthday
‘I felt honored when I got this job. If I hadn’t had it, I probably would have never seen it. He has been my life for the last seven years. I’ll go into his stable and talk to him, he listens to what’s on my mind. I understand why, when people come to see him, he gets so excited.”
Celebrity visitors include golfers Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Paul McGinley, while Emmy Award winner Bill Murray has also called. It’s been 22 years since this old guy last set foot on a racetrack, but the letters from his fans keep coming.
Her real 32nd birthday is May 23, and for the big event, Lara plans to make Istabraq her own cake, filled with horse feed, apples, and carrots, with something sweeter and suitable for the rest of the staff. It is a day that should be celebrated.
“There will never be another like him,” O’Brien says, his voice low and powerful. “He is made of iron.” And he also created memories that will last forever.