Don Poli (foaled 21 April 2009) is a retired Irish

thoroughbred racehorse 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 ...

. Don Poli won three Grade 1 races in his career.

Career

Originally sourced by Seán Tiernan and Bernard Stoffel, Don Poli made his racecourse debut in March 2013 at

Auteuil Auteuil may refer to: Places * Auteuil, Oise, a commune in France * Auteuil, Paris, a neighborhood of Paris ** Auteuil, Seine, the former commune which was on the outskirts of Paris * Auteuil, Quebec, a former city that is now a district within ...

before transferring to Willie Mullins in Ireland. Finishing 2nd in his first race for Mullins at Navan, Don Poli would go on to win twice before attending his first

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 ...

in 2014. He would win the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle by over 4 lengths. Building up to the 2015 Cheltenham Festival he switched to Chase fences and won twice including the Grade 1 Topaz Novices Chase at

Leopardstown Leopardstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Located at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, it is a residential suburb with institutional lands and a large racecourse. It is di ...

. In March he won the 2015 RSA Chase by 6 lengths. He followed this up with an unsuccessful trip to Punchestown, but was a winner on return in December 2015 twice first at Aintree and later in the Grade 1

Lexus Chase The Savills Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of about 3 miles (4,828 metres), and du ...

at Leopardstown. Don Poli would line up for the

2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup The 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup (known as the Timico Gold Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 88th annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday 18 March 2016. The race was won by the 9 to 4 ...

but ultimately finished in third. Don Poli's owners, Gigginstown House Stud had the winner of the race with Don Cossack. Two more grade 1 runs would follow, finishing second in the

Betway Bowl The Betway Bowl is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Aintree over a distance of about 3 miles and 1 furlong (3 mile ...

and third in the Punchestown Gold Cup. After this training duties were switched to Gordon Elliott. Through the remainder of 2016, Don Poli failed to recapture his former form and had a 664-day break from racing between February 2017 and December 2018. In March 2019 it was announced Don Poli would be one of two Gigginstown House Stud horses to be sold at the Goffs Aintree Sale. He was ultimately sold at auction for £170,000 to Darren & Annaley Yates. He finished 19th in the

2019 Grand National The 2019 Grand National (officially known as the Randox Health Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 172nd annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase was h ...

, the first run in their ownership. After being pulled up at Punchestown, training switched to Nick Pearce and Don Poli went pointing winning two races at Alnwick. He returned to Cheltenham for the 2019 Foxhunters Chase but finished only 11th. Training again changed to

Dan Skelton Dan Skelton is a British horse trainer who trains racehorses that compete in National Hunt racing. Skelton is the son of British Olympic gold medallist Nick Skelton and the older brother of champion jockey Harry Skelton. Skelton spent nine years ...

, but with two more unsuccessful runs Don Poli was retired on 1st January 2021.

References

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External links

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– ''Don Poli'' 2009 racehorse births Cheltenham Festival winners Racehorses trained in Ireland National Hunt racehorses