The 1995 Champion Hurdle was a

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

held at

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...

on Tuesday 14 March 1995. It was the 66th running of the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

. The winner was Ernie Pick's Alderbrook, a six-year-old

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stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

trained in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

by Kim Bailey and ridden by

Norman Williamson Norman Williamson (born 16 January 1969) is a retired professional jockey in the Irish National Hunt. He was top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in 1995 with 4 wins. These wins includes the Champion Hurdle on Alderbrook and the Cheltenham Gold ...

. Alderbrook's victory was a first in the race for jockey, trainer and owner. Alderbrook was a top-class flat racer, who won the

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

Select Stakes and finished second in the Group One

Prix Ganay The Prix Ganay is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,100 metres (about 1 mile and 2½ furlongs) at Longc ...

. The Champion Hurdle was his third race under

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

rules after an unplaced run in a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has ...

hurdle in 1992 and a win in the

Kingwell Hurdle The Kingwell Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Wincanton over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile, 7 furlong ...

nineteen days before the championship. Starting at odds of 11/2 he won the Champion Hurdle by five lengths and two lengths from the joint-favourites

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and

Danoli Danoli (14 May 1988 – April 2006) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. He was best known for his successes in hurdle races, although he also had success in steeplechases later in his career. Danoli was described as the most popular raceho ...

. The only previous winner of the race to take part was

Granville Again Granville Again (20 June 1986 – August 2003) was an Irish-bred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races and recorded his most important win in the 1993 Champion Hurdle. In his early career he won two of his three National Hunt Flat ...

who finished last. Twelve of the fourteen runners completed the course.

Race details

* Sponsor: Smurfit * Purse: £172,792; First prize: £103,690 * Going: Soft * Distance: 2 miles 110 yards * Number of runners: 14 * Winner's time: 4m 03.10

Full result

* Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider; PU = pulled up; LFT = left at start; SU = slipped up; BD = brought down

Winner's details

Further details of the winner, Alderbrook * Sex: Stallion * Foaled: 27 April 1989 * Country: United Kingdom * Sire: Ardross; Dam: Twine (

Thatching Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

) * Owner: Ernie Pick * Breeder: J. H. Stone

References

{{Champion Hurdle

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

1995

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

1990s in Gloucestershire