Blackstairmountain is an Irish

racehorse 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 pr ...

best known for winning the

Nakayama Grand Jump The Nakayama Grand Jump (中山グランドジャンプ) is a Japanese horse racing steeplechase, held at Nakayama Racecourse every year in mid-April. It is for thoroughbreds, four years old and older, run at a distance of 4250m (2 5/8 miles + 84 f ...

in 2013. He is the first horse trained in Europe to win the race.

Background

Blackstairmountain is a dark-coated bay

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

with a white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

bred in Ireland by Mrs J M Mullins. His sire Imperial Ballet was a winner of the

Royal Hunt Cup The Royal Hunt Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to t ...

and a son of

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

. He has proved a versatile stallion: apart from Blackstairmountain, his most significant winner has been the sprinter Imperial Beauty, the winner of the

Prix de l'Abbaye The Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged two years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse, L ...

. The gelding, who is named after

Blackstairs Mountain Blackstairs Mountain () in southern Leinster, is the second-highest mountain in the Blackstairs Mountains.The mountain stretches from Rathgeran to Gowlin at Cathaoirs Den See also *List of mountains in Ireland In these lists of mountains ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

is owned by Susannah Ricci and trained by

Willie Mullins William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. Career He commenced racehorse training in 1988 having previously worked as an assistant to his father Paddy Mullins and Jim Bolger. Willie is a fo ...

at Muine Beag,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

Racing career

Blackstairmountain began his racing career in 2009, when he won

National Hunt Flat National Hunt flat races, informally known as bumper races, are a type of flat racing but run under National Hunt racing rules in Britain and Ireland. National Hunt flat races were created on 15 July 1891 when a conference between the stewards of ...

races at

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

and

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

and a conventional flat race at

Galway Racecourse Ballybrit Race Track, also known as Galway Racecourse, is a horse race course in County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the townland of Ballybrit, in the environs of Castlegar, County Galway, Castlegar, just north of the N6 road (Ireland), N6 B ...

. In the following year, he competed in hurdle races and recorded his first major success when taking the Grade I Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle at the

Punchestown Festival Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish National ...

in May. After the race, Mullins explained that the horse had been particularly well-suited by the firm ground. Blackstairmountain failed to win in five hurdle races in the 2010/2011 National Hunt season before being campaigned in

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

s. He began promisingly, winning the Grade I

Racing Post Novice Chase The Racing Post Novice Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), chase in Ireland. The race is run at Leopardstown Racecourse in December, over a distance of 2 miles and 1 furlong ...

on his second appearance over larger obstacles, but he failed to maintain his form and finished fifth of the six runners in the

Arkle Challenge Trophy The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a dista ...

at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

, beaten thirty-six lengths by

Sprinter Sacre Sprinter Sacre (foaled 23 April 2006), is a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse. He currently has the third highest ever Timeform steeplechase rating of 192p, behind only Arkle on 212 and Flyingbolt on 210 as their highest in ...

. In the summer of 2012, Blackstairmountain won two minor flat races at

Bellewstown Bellewstown () is a village located 8 km south of Drogheda, on the Hill of Crockafotha in County Meath in Ireland. It takes its name from the Anglo-Irish Bellew family, who were the dominant local landowners from the thirteenth to the s ...

before returning to jump racing in autumn. In the 2012/2013 National Hunt season, he won a handicap hurdle at

Cork Racecourse Cork Racecourse, also known as Cork Racecourse Mallow, is a horse racing venue at Mallow, County Cork, Ireland which stages both National Hunt racing and Flat racing. It is located 35 km north of Cork and 64 km from Limerick The cours ...

in January before being sent to Japan in March. On his Japanese debut he made no impression as he finished ninth behind Rikiai Kurofune in the Pegasus Jump at

Nakayama Racecourse is located in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 165,676. It was built in 1990. Physical attributes Nakayama Race Course has two grass courses, a dirt course, and a jump course. The turf's measures 1840 ...

. On 13 April Blackstairmountain, ridden by

Ruby Walsh Rupert Walsh (born 14 May 1979 in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland) is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Walsh is the third most prolific winner in Britis ...

started a 25/1 outsider for the

, the world's richest steeplechase. He took the lead at the final fence and held off a late challenge from Rikiai Kurofune to win by half a length. Mullins later revealed that he had been planning an attempt on the race for a decade, and that it had taken him "a few years to find a horse good enough".

Pedigree

References

{{reflist Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland 2005 racehorse births