Limber Hill

{{Infobox racehorse | horsename = Limber Hill | image_name = | caption = | sire = Bassam | grandsire = Guido Reni | dam = Mindoon | damsire = [[Gainsborough (horse)|Gainsborough]] | sex = [[Gelding]] | foaled = 1947<ref name="pedigree">{{cite web|url=http://www.pedigreequery.com/limber+hill|title=Limber Hill pedigree |publisher=Pedigree Online |date=2016-03-19 |accessdate=2016-03-19}}</ref> | country = United Kingdom | colour = [[Chestnut (coat)|Chestnut]] | breeder = James Davey | owner = James Davey | trainer = [[Bill Dutton (trainer)|Bill Dutton]] | record = | earnings = | race = [[National Hunt Handicap Chase]] (1955) [[King George VI Chase]] (1955) [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]] (1956) |awards= |honours = |updated= }}

'''Limber Hill''' (foaled 1947) was a British [[Thoroughbred]] racehorse who won the 1956 [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]]. He was owned and bred by James Davey and trained in [[Yorkshire]] by [[Bill Dutton (trainer)|Bill Dutton]]. After racing on the [[Point-to-point (steeplechase)|point-to-point]] circuit he then ran over [[Hurdling (horse race)|hurdles]] before becoming a steeplechaser in 1954. He made an immediate impact and won the [[National Hunt Handicap Chase]] at the end of his first season. In the 1955/56 [[National Hunt]] season he was the leading staying chaser in Britain winning both the [[King George VI Chase]] and the [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]]. He continued to race until 1958 but his later career was disrupted by injury and he never recovered his best form.

==Background== Limber Hill was a chestnut gelding with a narrow white [[stripe (horse marking)|stripe]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefestival2016.co.uk/hall-of-fame/1950s/#gKjzhJWp33ZAwmqJ.97|title=1950s – Cheltenham|work=Cheltenham Festival official site}}</ref> bred by his owner James Davey who named the horse after his farm at [[Great Limber]] in Lincolnshire. He was the only horse of any consequence sired by the French-bred stallion Bassam. His dam Mindoon showed no racing ability and had had little prior success as a broodmare. In the year before Limber Hill was conceived she had been sent to a non-Thorouhbred stallion in an attempt to breed a [[field hunter]].<ref name="Harman">{{cite book | last = Harman | first = Bob | title = The Ultimate Dream: The History of the Cheltenham Gold Cup| publisher=Mainstream Publishing | year = 2000| isbn = 1-84018-381-0}}</ref> She was a distant female-line descendant of the influential British broodmare Pamela.<ref name="tbl">{{cite web |url=http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family13a.htm |title=Rutilia – Family 13-a |publisher=Thoroughbred Bloodlines |date= |accessdate=2013-09-15 |archive-date=2013-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314144925/http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family13a.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Davey sent the horse into training with [[Bill Dutton (trainer)|Bill Dutton]] at [[Malton, North Yorkshire]]. Dutton first came to fame as an amateur jockey by riding [[Tipperary Tim]] to victory in the [[1928 Grand National]] and later became a very successful trainer of both [[flat racing|flat horses]] and jumpers. Apart from Limber Hill his most famous horses were the sprinters [[Pappa Fourway]] and [[Right Boy]].<ref name="Mortimer">{{cite encyclopedia | last1 = Mortimer|first1=Roger |last2=Onslow|first2=Richard|last3=Willett|first3=Peter| title=Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing|publisher=Macdonald and Jane's| year=1978|isbn=0-354-08536-0}}</ref>

==Racing career== Limber Hill began his racing career on the amateur [[Point-to-point (steeplechase)|point-to-point]] circuit before moving up to compete against professional opposition. He showed promise as a [[Hurdling (horse race)|hurdler]] in the 1953/54 [[National Hunt]] season<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19540216&id=cUxAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GIsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4860,4363946&hl=en|title=Sir Ken can beat rivals|author=White and Gold|date=16 February 1954|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> before being campaigned in steeplechases in the following season. In his first season over fences he made steady improvement to win at least three [[novice (racehorse)|novice]] chases.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19541218&id=QzpAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XFkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4872,5197704&hl=en|title=Limber Hill's Good record|author=White and Gold|date=18 December 1954|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> He was then matched against more experienced opponents and recorded his first important success when he won the [[National Hunt Handicap Chase]] at the [[Cheltenham Festival]].<ref name="Harman"/>

In the following season Limber Hill made further progress and defeated [[Gay Donald]] at [[Manchester Racecourse]] in November<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19551126&id=jWhAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kpQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4232,3196567&hl=en|title=Gay Donald to beat weight|date=26 November 1955|author=White and Gold|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> before establishing himself as one of the best staying chasers in Britain in the [[King George VI Chase]] at [[Kempton Park Racecourse|Kempton Park]]. Starting at odds of 3/1 he won by a neck from Galloway Braes in what was described as "one of the most exciting steeplechases of recent years".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19561224&id=WWJAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e5wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5546,5839548&hl=en|title=Preference for Lochroe in King George|date=24 December 1956|author=White and Gold|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> In the month preceding the 1956 Cheltenham Festival many meetings were abandoned because of frozen ground and Dutton kept Limber Hill fit by galloping him on the beach at [[Filey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19560228&id=nntAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kZQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1300,7157830&hl=en|title=Prospects for meeting at Cheltenham|author=Vincent Orchard|date=28 February 1956|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> In the [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]] on 8 March he was ridden as at [[Kempton Park Racecourse|Kempton]] by Jimmy Power<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/former-leading-jump-jockey-jimmy-power-dies/179541/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509190200/http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/former-leading-jump-jockey-jimmy-power-dies/179541/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 May 2016|title=Former leading jump jockey Jimmy Power dies|date=18 April 2009|work=[[Racing Post]]|author=Graham Green}}</ref> and started the 11/8 favourite against ten opponents. The best of his rivals appeared to be the 1954 winner [[Four Ten]] and [[Halloween (horse)|Halloween]] who had finished second, third and second again in the last three runnings of the race.<ref name="Harman"/> Limber Hill was not among the early leaders as Four Ten set a slow pace before the [[novice (racehorse)|novice]] Cruachan took over on the second circuit. Power made a forward move approaching the third last and Limber Hill jumped past Cruachan at the next fence to take the lead before going clear. He stayed on up the run-in to win by four lengths from the French-bred outsider Vigor with Halloween finishing strongly to deprive Cruachan of third place.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19560309&id=zGlAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=X5UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4011,1025867&hl=en|title=Limber Hill's Gold Cup win|date=9 March 1956|work=[[Glasgow Herald]]}}</ref> The victory made him the first horse trained in the North of England to win the Gold Cup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10194898.display/|title=Ryedale trainer's hope for Cape Tribulation|author=Alec Russell|date=30 January 2013|work=[[York Press]]}}</ref>

In late 1956 Limber Hill was beaten on [[Going (horse racing)|heavy ground]] in the Emblem Chase at [[Aintree Racecourse]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19561129&id=RGJAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e5wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6258,3249880&hl=en|title=Preference for Sundew in attractive steeplechase|author=White and Gold|date=29 November 1956|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> and then injured his back when preparing for an attempt to win the King George for a second time.<ref name="Harman"/> He never recovered his best form: in fact he never won another race. In early 1958 he returned to fitness but [[EIPH|broke a blood vessel]] and was pulled up in the [[Great Yorkshire Chase]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19580218&id=6ndAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o6MMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5255,5526755&hl=en|title=Mariner's Hand Chosen|date=18 February 1958|author=White and Gold|work=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> He made a final attempt to win the Gold Cup in March that year and finished fifth to the mare [[Kerstin (horse)|Kerstin]].<ref name="Harman"/>

==Assessment and honours== In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the [[Timeform]] rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Limber Hill a "superior" Gold Cup winner and the best British-trained winner of the race since [[Golden Miller]].<ref name="century">{{cite book|last1=Morris| first1=Tony|last2=Randall|first2=John|title=A Century of Champions|publisher= Portway Press|year=1999|isbn=9781901570151}}</ref> He is remembered in the name of Limber Hill, a residential street in Cheltenham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheltenham4u.co.uk/swindonvillage_history.asp?area=Swindon+Village%2C+Wyman%27s+Brook|title=Cheltenham Areas: History of Swindon Village and Wyman's Brook|publisher=cheltenham4u.co.uk|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330165106/http://www.cheltenham4u.co.uk/swindonvillage_history.asp?area=Swindon+Village%2C+Wyman%27s+Brook|archivedate=2016-03-30|access-date=2016-04-22}}</ref>

==Pedigree== {{Pedigree |name = Limber Hill (GB), chestnut gelding, 1947<ref name="pedigree"/> |f = Bassam (FR) 1933 |m = Mindoon (GB) 1933 |ff = Guido Reni (FR) 1916 |fm = Barbichon (FR) 1923 |mf = [[Gainsborough (horse)|Gainsborough]] (GB) 1915 |mm = Colleen (GB) 1927 |fff = Blarney |ffm = La Gangue |fmf = Saint Moritz |fmm = Dame en Gris |mff = [[Bayardo (horse)|Bayardo]] |mfm = [[Rosedrop]] |mmf = Golden Sun |mmm = Shanogue |ffff = [[Irish Lad]] |fffm = Armenia |ffmf = Strozzi |ffmm = Golden Rod |fmff = Faucheur |fmfm = Simornis |fmmf = Oversight |fmmm = Messaouda |mfff = [[Bay Ronald]] |mffm = Galicia |mfmf = [[St Frusquin]] |mfmm = Rosaline |mmff = Sundridge |mmfm = Golden Lassie |mmmf = [[William the Third (horse)|William the Third]] |mmmm = Isleta (Family: 13-a)<ref name="tbl"/>}}

== References == {{Reflist|2}}

[[Category:1947 racehorse births]] [[Category:Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Thoroughbred family 13-a]] [[Category:Cheltenham Gold Cup winners]] [[Category:Cheltenham Festival winners]] [[Category:National Hunt racehorses]]