Horses that win the same race at the Cheltenham Festival three or four times – think Best Mate, Inglis Drever, Big Buck’s – typically qualify for legendary status so, without resorting to expletives, what adjective can we use to describe a horse that won the same race six times, in a row! More on that grammatical quandary later, maybe, but the horse in question is the now-retired mare, Quevega, who won the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle, now known as the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, every year between 2009 and 2014 inclusive.
Bred, and originally trained, in France, the daughter of smart French hurdler Robin Des Champs joined Irish Champion Trainer Willie Mullins as a 4-year-old in 2008. On her first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival, just over a year later, she started favourite – as she would on her five subsequent appearances – and turned the race into a procession, drawing right away in the closing stages to win by 14 lengths. Five years later, Quevega went off 8/11 favourite to make history and, although just threequarters of a length in front of stable companion Glens Melody at the line, did just that. She had looked beaten at the final flight, but Willie Mullins summed her up, saying “She’s got stamina, speed and everything, she’s just class – what more can I say?” Indeed.