Epatante (foaled 27 February 2014) is a French-bred

AQPS AQPS ("Autre Que Pur-Sang"), translated as "Other than Thoroughbred" (not "Other than Pure-Blood"), is a general term used in France to refer to horses not listed as Thoroughbreds but destined to race. Anglo-Arabians, Selle Français (or French ...

racehorse best known for her performances in Hurdle races. After winning two of her three races in her native country, she was transferred to race in England and showed further promise by winning two of her three starts in the 2018/2019 National Hunt season. In the following season she emerged as a top-class performer, winning the Ladbrokes Intermediate Hurdle,

Christmas Hurdle The Christmas 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 at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres ...

and

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 ...

Background

Epatante is a bay mare with no white markings bred in France by Francois-Xavier & Anne Doulce Lefeuvre. She initially raced in France in the ownership of Mme Lefeuvre. Her sire, the French stallion No Risk At All, was a successful racehorse whose victories included La Coupe and the Grand Prix de Vichy-Auvergne. Epatante's dam Kadjara was not a

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 ...

as her maternal grandsire Useful was descended from a mare whose ancestors do not appear in the

General Stud Book The ''General Stud Book'' is a breed registry for horses in Great Britain and Ireland. More specifically it is used to document the breeding of Thoroughbreds and related foundation bloodstock such as the Arabian horse. Today it is published e ...

. On her dam's side she was descendant of the British broodmare Miss Erene (foaled in 1931), making her a distant relative of

Raintrap Raintrap (foaled 1990 in Great Britain) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Background Raintrap was a chestnut horse bred in England by his owner Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms. He was sired by Rainbow Quest who won the Prix de l'A ...

and Sunshack.

Racing career

2017: three-year-old season

On her racecourse debut, Epatante finished second to Extra Noire in a race for AQPS horses over 2500 metres at

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

on 23 August. On 12 September on very soft ground at

Le Lion-d'Angers Le Lion-d'Angers is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Andigné was merged into Le Lion-d'Angers.lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

. In the Prix Jacques de Vienne at

Saint-Cloud Racecourse Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital ...

she started at odds of 4.8/1 and recorded another easy win, coming home three lengths clear of her opponents despite eased down in the closing stages.

2018/2019 National Hunt season

In 2018 Epatante was bought by

J. P. McManus John Patrick McManus (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner. His career lasted from the 1980s to the 2010s. He was one of the biggest shareholders of Manchester United, until his stake was bought out by Malcolm Glazer ...

and was sent to England where she was trained by

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

. She made her first appearance for her new connections on 12 November when she started 8/15 favourite for 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 A hurdle (UK English, limited US English) is a moveable section of light fence. In the United States, terms such as "panel", "pipe panel" or simply "fence section" are used to describe moveable sections of fencing intended for agricultural us ...

over two miles at

Kempton Park Racecourse Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 16 miles south-west of Charing Cross, London and on a border of Greater London. The site has of ...

. Ridden by

Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival. Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997 and three years later he became the Irish Champio ...

, who became her regular jockey, she took the lead at the penultimate flight of hurdles and won "easily" by three and a half lengths. On 22 February she contested a Novice Hurdle confined to mares at

Exeter Racecourse Exeter Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located near the city of Exeter, Devon, England. Locally it is known as Haldon racecourse because of its location on top of the Haldon Hills. Until the early 1990s it was officially known as ...

and won "very easily" at odds of 1/6. She made her first appearance 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 ...

on 14 March when she started favourite for the Grade 2

Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle The Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle, run as the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle for sponsorship purposes, is a Grade 2 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to filly, fi ...

but ran poorly and came home ninth behind the Irish-trained Eglantine du Seuil.

2019/2020 National Hunt season

Aidan Coleman Aidan Coleman (born 17 August 1988) is an Irish National Hunt jockey, who has ridden multiple Grade 1 winners in the United Kingdom including at the Cheltenham Festival. Career Coleman was born in Cork, Ireland and moved to England in 2006 wor ...

took the ride when Epatante began her third campaign by carrying 160 pounds in the Listed Ladbrokes "Where The Nation Plays" Intermediate Hurdle at

Newbury Racecourse Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat r ...

on 30 November. Starting the 3/1 favourite in an eleven-runner field she took the lead approaching the final flight of hurdles and drew away on the run-in to win by six lengths from her stablemate French Crusader. The mare was then moved up to Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on 26 December and started the 2/1 joint-favourite alongside her stablemate Fusil Raffles, the winner of the

Champion Four Year Old Hurdle The Champion Four Year Old Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its run ...

. The other runners included Verdana Blue (winner of the race in 2018), Ch'tibello ( County Hurdle), Silver Streak ( Swinton Handicap Hurdle) and Ballyandy (

Champion Bumper The Champion Bumper is a Grade 1 National Hunt flat race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four to six years. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ f ...

). Epatante raced in mid-division before taking the lead after the second-last obstacle and accelerating away from her rivals to win by five lengths from Silver Streak. After the race Nicky Henderson said "She was impressive, wasn't she? I've even got to admit it myself, it was very good... She's lovely, has a great temperament and has a good attitude... She's much more mature now, mentally, and she travelled like a dream." At Cheltenham on 10 March Epatante started the 2/1 favourite for the 90th running of the Champion Hurdle. Her fifteen opponents included Cilaos Emery (

Hilly Way Chase The Hilly Way Chase is a Grade 2 National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland. It is run at Cork Racecourse in December, over a distance of about 2 miles and half a furlong (2 miles and 160 yards, or 3,365 metres). The ra ...

), Darver Star, Supasundae (

Aintree Hurdle The Aintree 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 at Aintree over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs (), ...

), Pentland Hills (

Triumph Hurdle The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 f ...

), Sharjah ( Matheson Hurdle), Silver Streak, Fusil Raffles, Petit Mouchoir (

Irish Champion Hurdle The Irish Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and du ...

), Cornerstone Lad (

Fighting Fifth Hurdle The Fighting Fifth 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 at Newcastle over a distance of about 2 miles and half a ...

) and Ballyandy. Epatante was in contention from the start as Petit Mouchoir set the pace. Darver Star briefly gained the advantage approaching the final flight but the mare jumped past him at the last obstacle and stayed on well in the closing stages to win by three lengths from Sharjah.

Pedigree

References

{{Champion Hurdle winners 2014 racehorse births Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-n Champion Hurdle winners