As Cheltenham approaches, we look back at some of the festival legends of the past, starting with one of the all-time hurdling greats.
Sea Pigeon (1970–2000) was an American-bred gelding trained near Malton by the three-time British NH champion trainer, Peter Easterby. In a racing career which lasted from 1972 until 1981 he competed in eighty-five races and won thirty-seven times. He was best known for his performances over hurdles, twice winning the Champion Hurdle.
Trained by Jeremy Tree, Sea Pigeon won once as a two-year-old in October 1972, when ridden by Lester Piggott. In early 1973, he was considered a serious contender for the Classics and ran in the 1973 Epsom Derby, finishing seventh behind Morston. By the end of 1973, Sea Pigeon’s indifferent form led to him being thought “ungenuine, highly-strung and difficult to handle.” He was subsequently gelded and was sold for £8,000 to Pat Muldoon, who sent the horse to National Hunt trainer Gordon W. Richards.
After showing modest form on the flat in 1974, Sea Pigeon was switched to hurdles. In his first two seasons as a hurdler, he showed steadily improving form, winning several races and finishing placed behind notable hurdlers including Lanzarote and Birds Nest. In late 1976, after a defeat at Kempton, Sea Pigeon joined Peter Easterby’s stable. In the second half of the 1976–77 National Hunt season, he became a top-class performer, finishing fourth to his stable companion Night Nurse in the Champion Hurdle and winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr.
His flat career also started to blossom with a succession of wins in top handicaps – he won the Chester Cup in 1977 and 1978, and the Ebor Handicap carrying 10 stone, which is still a record, in 1979. Sea Pigeon was ridden to his Ebor win by his regular hurdles partner Jonjo O’Neill – due to the long ITV strike of that year, only those who were present at Knavesmire that day saw it.
He missed the early part of the 1977–78 jumps season after being injured in the Colonial Cup in America, but returned in spring to finish runner-up to Monksfield in the Champion Hurdle. He won a second Scottish Champion Hurdle, taking advantage of the fatal fall of Golden Cygnet at the final flight. In the following season, his best performances came when beating Birds Nest in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and finishing second again to Monksfield in the Champion Hurdle. Sea Pigeon suffered from injury problems in the autumn of 1979 but returned to form in spring 1980. He won the Champion Hurdle at his fourth attempt, beating Monksfield by seven lengths. Before the end of the season, he added a victory in the Welsh Champion Hurdle. A year later, he won a second Fighting Fifth Hurdle and a second Champion Hurdle in March, becoming the oldest-ever winner of the race. In the Champion Hurdle, the ride from John Francome, who replaced the injured O’Neill, has been described as one of the best in Cheltenham history.
Having contracted a virus, shortly before the 1981 Aintree Festival, Sea Pigeon never recovered fully and ran poorly in two races in the autumn of 1981. He was retired just before the 1982 Cheltenham Festival. He had won 21 races from 40 starts over jumps and 16 races from 45 starts on the flat.
During his retirement Sea Pigeon was housed with trainer Pat Rohan for some time and could often be seen having a stroll round the streets of Norton much to the joy of the locals. Later he spent twelve years under the care of Polly Tierney/Perkins at her yard in Sheriff Hutton, near Malton.
Even when Jonjo O’Neill turned his hand to training across the Pennines in Skelton, his bond with Sea Pigeon was far from over. The former jockey would often turn up unannounced just to spend some time with his old friend. This bond continued until Sea Pigeon was found to have irreparable damage to one of his pedal bones and was put to sleep on Tuesday 20 October 2000. He was buried at Easterby’s Habton Grange stable, next to his stable companion and racecourse rival Night Nurse.
Sea Pigeon was rated at 175 by Timeform for five consecutive seasons from 1976–77 to 1980–81. He was the highest rated hurdler in both his championship seasons and at the time of his retirement was the fifth-highest rated hurdler in the organisation’s history. Sea Pigeon now ranks in the top-16 all-time list.
In their book A Century of Champions, John Randal and Tony Morris ranked Sea Pigeon the tenth best British or Irish hurdler of the 20th century.