Few horses captured the public imagination quite like Honeysuckle and the darling of Irish racing brought the curtain down on her illustrious career with one of the most emotional victories in Cheltenham Festival history.
In a script fit for Hollywood, Henry de Bromhead’s mare of a lifetime would climb from the canvas to thrill the Prestbury Park faithful for the fourth successive year, registering a battling swansong success in the hands of her ever-loyal pilot Rachael Blackmore.
Up until the 2022-23 season, Honeysuckle had been simply flawless, but she headed to the Festival with plenty to prove having seen her four-year winning streak ended by Teahupoo and also surrendered her Irish Champion Hurdle crown to State Man at the Dublin Racing Festival.
It was a desperately testing time for the De Bromhead family following the tragic loss of their beloved son Jack in a pony racing accident.
However, the stars aligned on a simply magical afternoon where Constitution Hill dazzled in the Champion Hurdle before passing the baton to Honeysuckle to raise the roof off Prestbury Park.
“It was a fantastic day,” said De Bromhead when recalling the magnificent Mares’ Hurdle triumph.
“It was just one of those great days, with Constitution Hill winning the Champion Hurdle, and then everything that had gone on with us with Jack’s passing, and then Honey and whether we would run her or not.
“We decided to give it a go and for her to come out and finish as she did was incredible.
“To see the rainbow above her when she was walking in, we knew Jack was with us as well, so it was an amazing day for us. Everyone has been so supportive of us and we really appreciated it. It was an amazing day for many reasons, it was up there with the best of them.”
Honeysuckle’s owner Kenny Alexander and his racing manager Peter Molony have been there for every step of her journey to stardom, but even they were taken aback by the sheer emotion of the post-race scenes taking place at every corner of Cheltenham’s vast racecourse.
“It was an unbelievable day and it was undoubtedly the most emotional day I’ve ever spent on a racecourse, the whole thing was just overwhelming, to be honest,” said Molony.
“The amount of people who came up to me throughout the week and said they had been racing for 40 or 50 years and that magic hour of Constitution Hill and then Honeysuckle was the most amazing and emotional experience that many of them have had in their racing lives. That’s incredible.”
Having lost her aura of invincibility in the Hatton’s Grace and failing to dispel the doubters at Leopardstown when saying goodbye to her vociferous home supporters, questions began to be raised about Honeysuckle’s waning powers and the dents the defeats were making on her legacy.
Of course, there would be no Champion Hurdle showdown with Constitution Hill many had salivated over 12 months prior and it was the Mares’ Hurdle that was chosen as the race for Honeysuckle to wave farewell.
Having first tasted Festival success in that contest in 2020, it proved a fitting contest for her final act and De Bromhead feels the unrest and trepidation heading into racing’s feature meeting helped create the joyous scenes experienced on that memorable afternoon.
He said: “It definitely added to it all, but we felt she was really good and had been all season.
“I’m not sure if things had been slightly different, she could have still been going there unbeaten, but they weren’t and of course it all added to it.”
However, if Molony had got his way, there would have been no fairytale goodbye for one of the most loved and admired mares of the modern era.
“I’ve made it no secret that we had some robust discussions within the camp after Leopardstown and I’ve made it no secret that I was a little bit chicken – I wanted to retire her after Leopardstown,” said Molony.
“I was thinking of how much she meant to us all and the public and there were a few things running through my head.
“I didn’t want anything to happen to her and she clearly wasn’t running to her optimum, she was clearly a few lengths slower than she had been in previous seasons.
“I didn’t want her to be going out on another losing run, but I fully admit 100 per cent I was wrong and Henry and Kenny were right – and it 100 per cent proved it was the right decision to run her on the day.”
Honeysuckle was backed into 9-4 joint-favourite and produced a display that blended together all the qualities she had shown in her career – showing speed, style, bravery and class to repel an inspired Johnny Burke doing his best to spoil the party aboard Love Envoi.
The two Festival heroines were embroiled in their own microscopic duel from the moment the tapes went up and, having jumped the last matching strides, it was only in the final half-furlong where Honeysuckle proved she was still the champion that many remembered.
Molony added: “There was a lot of pressure on and with the whole story leading up to the race, with both Jack and how she had influenced Rachael’s career, and when Rachael delivered her and she jumped the final hurdle, I was happy.
“From then on, she was home safe and then that characteristic battling quality saw her get up to beat Love Envoi.
“I still say that Johnny Burke’s ride on Love Envoi was one of the best rides of the week and he did everything in his power to beat Honeysuckle, but the two girls were more than able on the day.”
Having waltzed into the sunset following her Cheltenham heroics, Honeysuckle soon found herself bestowed to Walk In The Park.
Now in foal to the leading National Hunt sire and with motherhood fast approaching, the only thing to discuss is Honeysuckle’s place in history, with her handler in no doubt of her position amongst the greats to grace his Knockeen gallops.
“She would have to be the best, or very close to it anyhow. For her to do what she did and be so consistent and always turn up, she was incredible,” said De Bromhead.
It is a sentiment shared by Molony, who added: “It’s been a matter of debate over the last few years – what she was beating? But all she could do was beat what is in front of her.
“She won 13 Grade Ones and not many horses can do that. Her record shows she was no slouch.
“You could never have dreamed to have been involved with something like her. When you’re in the game, you are always delighted to get a winner, and to get a good horse gives you even more pleasure, but you can’t imagine you would come across something like Honeysuckle.
“The likes of Charlie Swann and Ruby Walsh and even people like Tony Mullins, who rode the great Dawn Run, they all rate her up there as one of the best National Hunt mares we have ever seen and I think that is how she should be remembered really.”
