There are races named after Lanzarote, Relkeel and Silviniaco Conti at Kempton this weekend - but why? Mike Vince sheds light on their fantastic careers.
The 1970s was a vintage decade for Champion Hurdlers - Persian War had just been and gone, then along came Bula, Comedy Of Errors, Night Nurse and Monksfield. Sea Pigeon, another glorious pilgrim from the north, arrived at the start of the 80s.
And in the middle of them all came Lanzarote.
Fred Winter had to have his arm twisted to train Lord Howard de Walden’s home-bred, claiming the ‘house full’ signs were up at his Lambourn yard. At the end of a career highlighted by 1974 Champion Hurdle glory, at the main expense of Comedy Of Errors, he rightly sat on the top table of all-time hurdlers.
Kempton brought out the best in Lanzarote. He had a career record of 23 wins in 38 starts, but amazingly at Kempton he was 8-8, his wins including two in the Christmas Hurdle, 1975’s success coming just a fortnight after he had landed the Long Walk Hurdle over the extended three miles at Ascot.
So when the distance of this weekend’s race was upped by five furlongs in 2007, it wasn’t out of place.
Saturday's card at Sunbury also salutes a more recent addition to Kempton’s Hall of Fame - Silviniaco Conti.
His affection for Kempton was in sharp contrast to Cheltenham where he never scaled the same heights in terms of results, but he’ll always be remembered for his back-to-back wins in the King George VI Chase.
Having finished second to Grand Crus and ahead of Bobs Worth in the Feltham Novices' Chase in 2011, he hit the jackpot in the big race itself two years later, storming home ahead of Cue Card, and reversing the places when the two had met in the Betfair Chase at Haydock a month earlier. He followed up a year later with Dynaste his nearest pursuer.
If Lanzarote and Silviniano Conti were Kempton specialists, Relkeel was every bit as much of one at Cheltenham, from where the race in his honour has been transferred to this weekend's fixture.
In fact, Relkeel’s final race at Kempton in 2000 was his first at the track - his love of Cheltenham clear from these stats: three Bula Hurdle wins in 1997/98/99 and his only ‘also-ran’ race at the track was in finishing ninth in Istabraq’s 1998 Champion Hurdle.
The history and heritage of jump racing means a lot to many, and Kempton this weekend really will be a trip down memory lane.
