Labaik (foaled 27 March 2011) was a French

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 ...

who won the 2017 Supreme Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Racing career

Labaik was bred in France and began his racing career with trainer John Hammond, on the flat. After eight races with a best finish of second at Deauville - he switched briefly to trainer Owen Burrows in England and later to

Gordon Elliott Gordon Elliott may refer to: * Gordon Elliott (journalist) Gordon Elliott (born 30 September 1956) is a British Australian journalist and producer, radio and television personality, based now in the United States. He was the executive produc ...

in Ireland. Labaik was successful taking two victories in late 2016 in Ireland, first at Punchestown and later the

For Auction Novice Hurdle The For Auction Novice Hurdle is a Grade 3 National Hunt novice hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Navan over a distance of about 2 miles (3,218 metres). Th ...

at Navan. His greatest success however would come at the Cheltenham Festival with jockey

Jack Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

. A 25/1 outsider, Labaik won the Supreme Novices Hurdle by over 2 lengths from favourite Melon. Labaik generated a lot of press interest due to his repeated refusals to start races, most notably at Punchestown in 2017. This led to a Turf Club investigation into the refusal to start rules. Labaik ran again on April 28 in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle finishing fourth. After the race it was revealed by trainer Gordon Elliott that he had suffered an injury and would likely never run again. Labaik died in 2020 from complications of colic.

Ownership and legal seizure

Labaik was registered as owned by Aidan J O'Ryan, a bloodstock agent. In 2017 Labaik was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in Ireland as his purchase for €28,000 was linked to a organized crime and drug dealer John Boylan. Gardai sent armed officers to Punchestown to seize the horse. In October 2019, it was ruled by the

Irish High Court The High Court ( ga, An Ard-Chúirt) of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judg ...

that Boylan had purchased Labaik using proceeds from crime. During the high court case, it was revealed the ownership of the horse was structured as 90% Boylan, 5% O'Ryan and 5% Gordon Elliott the trainer. It was outlined during the case that Elliott had never spoken to owner Boylan. At the same testimony, the value of Labaik was raised up with Elliott estimating his value went up to €300,000 following his Cheltenham win but now may be 'worthless' after the injury sustained at Punchestown.

References

{{reflist 2012 racehorse births Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses Racehorses trained in Ireland