Brendan's Cottage (1930–1940) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse who won the 1939

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

. After beginning his career in

flat racing 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 ...

he developed into a top-class steeplechaser and won the Gold Cup by defeating the odds-on favourite

Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

. He never won again and died a year later at the age of 10.

Background

Brendan's Cottage was a bay gelding bred in the United Kingdom. He was sired by Cottage, an unsuccessful racehorse who became an outstanding National Hunt stallion. His other offspring included

Cottage Rake Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was a successful National Hunt racehorse. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche, Co. Cork, Ireland. Before he embarked on his jumping career, he was failed by a vet on three different ...

and the Grand National winners Workman, Lovely Cottage and Sheila's Cottage. Brendan's Cottage's dam Brendan's Glory, was distantly descended from the influential Irish broodmare Caprice. During his racing career, Brendan's Cottage was owned by Jean Smith-Bingham and trained by

George Beeby Sir George Stephenson Beeby KBE (23 May 1869 – 18 July 1942) was an Australian politician, judge and author. He was one of the founders of the Labor Party in New South Wales, and represented the party in state parliament from 1907 to 1912. ...

. Beeby trained the horse at

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

before moving to Hamilton House at

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Racing career

Brendan's Cottage began his racing career on the flat, winning as a two-year-old in 1932. He later switched to steeplechasing and won at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...

in November 1937. He was entered in the

1938 Grand National The 1938 Grand National was the 97th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 25 March 1938. The steeplechase was won narrowly by American thoroughbred Battleship, a 40/1 shot ridden by 1 ...

although he did not run in the race. On 9 March 1939 Brendan's Cottage, having run promisingly at

Gatwick Racecourse Gatwick Racecourse was a racecourse in the county of Surrey, England near to Horley and Lowfield Heath. It was in use from 1891 to 1940 when it was closed at the start of the Second World War. The land is now part of London Gatwick Airport. His ...

on his previous start, was one of five horses to contest the fourteenth running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

the winner of the race in 1938 was made the 4/7 favourite ahead of Bel et Bon on 11/4 with Brendan's Cottage, ridden by George Owen, third choice in the betting on 8/1. The other two runners, L'Estaque (ridden by

Harry Llewellyn Sir Henry Morton Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet, (18 July 1911 – 15 November 1999) was a British equestrian champion. He was born the second son of a colliery owner, Sir David Llewellyn, 1st Baronet. Background A younger son, Llewellyn was seco ...

) and Embarrassed were given little chance. The race was run at a slow pace with the runners closely grouped until Brendan's Cottage and Morse Code broke away from their opponents on the second circuit. The favourite led until the last fence but was being hard ridden whilst Brendan's Cottage was traveling easily. Brendan's Cottage took the lead at the final obstacle and drew away on the run-in to win by five lengths. In the

1939 Grand National The 1939 Grand National was the 98th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1939. The winning jockey was Irishman Tim Hyde, riding 100/8 shot Workman. Workman was trained by Ja ...

just over two weeks later Brendan's Cottage who carried 156 pounds and started at odds of 25/1. He looked to be in good condition before the race but fell at the first fence. Brendan's Cottage sustained a serious leg injury in the following season and died in 1940.

Assessment and honours

In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by ...

rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Brendan's Cottage a "poor" Gold Cup winner.

Pedigree

References

{{Cheltenham Gold Cup winners 1930 racehorse births 1940 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 22 Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses