Binocular, foaled on 17 March 2004 in France, is a French

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 ...

retired

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 ...

. He was sired by

Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish language, Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich (given name), Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (given name), Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, D ...

out of the mare Bleu Ciel Et Blanc. He is owned 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 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 ...

. His primary

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

.Binocular Pedigree
racingpost.com, accessed 17 March 2010. Binocular started racing as a two-year-old when he was entered into the

Prix de Belleville Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

– for unraced

colt (horse) A colt is a male horse, usually below the age of four years. Description The term "colt" only describes young male horses and is not to be confused with foal, which is a horse of either sex less than one year of age. Similarly, a yearling is a ...

and

geldings 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, making th ...

– in October 2006. In that race, he bested 10 other horses en route to his first victory. His first notable win came in February 2008 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 ...

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames (or commonly Sunbury) is a suburban town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, centred southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England where he won the

Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle The Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race in United Kingdom which is open to horses aged four years. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles (), and d ...

, a Grade 2 National Hunt race. Although he won the race, McManus was disappointed. He said of Binocular; ''"It seemed that the horse didn't jump as well as he can, but Kempton is a quick track, and maybe he was not suited to it."'' Binocular's first major win in a Grade 1 race came in April 2008. With jockey McCoy at the helm, he went on to win the 2008

Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle The Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years. It is ...

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 ...

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England where he beat

Celestial Halo Celestial may refer to: Science * Objects or events seen in the sky and the following astronomical terms: ** Astronomical object, a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe ** Celes ...

by 7

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 ...

. Binocular's other major Grade 1 National Hunt win came in the

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 ...

in March 2010 at

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...

when he beat

Khyber Kim Khyber (خیبر درہ) may refer to: Places * Khyber Pass, a mountain pass that links Afghanistan and Pakistan * Khyber District, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan *Khaybar, an oasis in Saudi ...

by 3.5 lengths. Binocular had originally been ruled out of the Champion Hurdle due to a muscle problem, and he drifted out to as high as 999–1 to win the race.Bone scans and back specialists turn 999-1 Binocular into a champion
guardian.co.uk, 16 March 2010, accessed 17 March 2010. However, McManus and McCoy later decided he was fit to run. By winning the Champion Hurdle, he denied 4-1 race favourite

Go Native Go Native (foaled in 2003 in Ireland, died 23 November 2012) was an Irish Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse, born to sire Double Eclipse (horse), Double Eclipse and dam Native Idea.Triple Crown of Hurdling Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

. Binocular's career record reads 9 wins, 3 seconds and 2 thirds, with 2 of his wins coming in Grade 1 races. On 10 December 2013 it was announced that Binocular was retired due to a heart problem.
Heart problem forces Binocular into retirement, racingpost.com, 10 December 2013, accessed 10 December 2013.

References

External links

Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart
– ''Binocular'' {{Champion Hurdle winners 2004 racehorse births Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 7-a Cheltenham Festival winners Champion Hurdle winners ja:ウェルアームド