Top 25 Greatest Hurdlers 

And the best of them Golden Cygnet.

You left out the best of them all in Golden Cygnet.

And the game was pre internet The best of the best were absolutely PRINTING MONEY

He was the best hurdler i ever seen, He was all over Sea Pigeon and co. in the Scottish champion but Alas.

If Golden Cygnet had fulfilled his potential he would've ended up with a rating that would've been untouchable.

Sea Pigeon in my opinion was the best cross purpose National Hunt/Flat horse of all time, and the classiest, let's not forget he also finished 5th in the Epsom Derby as a 3yo.

Absolutely, none even comes close.

an it's kinda sad how you older guys cling to the past and are afraid to let go. Go look at the 20 best arc winners video, someone the same as you, having the second comment on the list said the EXACT same thing you did "Dancing Brave was the best as he DEFINITELY faced the best fiel ever that day". And then go and watch the video of Red Rum's first Gran National win, the 3rd guy down again "The best grand national field ever". Whats wrong with you guys? Why do you think the best of everything has already been and gone, and nothing can compare to stuff that just magically happens to have happened when you were in your mid 20's (the best years i suppose of your life) were the best horses ever. Why are people so opposed to newer horses, gootballers, cars etc, literally you older people think the human race reached it's pinnacle in the 90's, and everything reached it's limit then, and now anything that came after the mide 90's can never compare as we're on a downhill slope into oblivion. I hate to burst you bubble but there have been FAR better winners of the race than Sea Pigeon, not to mention the amount of times he lost to horses who weren't actually that great. You need to live in the moment man, living in the past is bad for you, if you keep looking to the past, thats where you'll stay, you'll regret it when you're older. Appreciate what you have now, not what you had. Just some advice.

Young Mr. Quigley, I'm afraid your advice is misguided, first of all let's correct you, I never said Sea Pigeon was the best horse to win the Champion Hurdle, I said in my opinion he was the best cross-purpose flat/jumps horse of all time, I still follow horse racing these days, and I've seen nothing yet to change my opinion on that point. I see you bring up that old chestnut (pun intended) Red Rum, are you honestly suggesting that his National record of 3 wins and 2 seconds doesn't entitle him to the accolade of the best national horse of all time? If you want to look at people living in the past I suggest you view some videos about the greatest racehorses of all time, the Americans can't seem to get past Secretariat, in fact I often make comments on these videos similar to yours along the lines of "that was then, this is now", they just can't bring themselves to mention American Pharoah in the same breath (I don't think this year's Triple Crown Winner Justify is as good as AP). As for my best racehorse of all time it would have to be Arkle, he had to have the handicap changed to give his opponents the slightest chance of beating him, with him on 12st 7lb and the rest of the field lumped on 10st. I've retired to Thailand, but I still watch my daily dose of racing on my PC, and I think this year's European crop of 3 yr. olds is pretty mediocre, with the exception of the filly Alpha Centauri. The way the others keep flip-flopping in the results tells me that if Enable is fit in time she'll win a second Arc. 4 yr. old Ascot Gold Cup winner Stradivarius could turn out to be better than Le Moss if he's kept in training. Also I'm following closely the Australian filly Winx, who at seven just keeps on winning. So as you can see I'm not living in the past at all. What makes you think I have anything against today's "gootballers", whatever they are, oh, wait you mean footballers, no I think my team's great (Spurs) particularly Harry Kane and Kieran Trippier. I like modern cars too, I've got a Mitzubishi at the moment, but it'll never compare to my BMW Z3 3 litre auto that I had when I left the UK. Where you could have nailed me for living in the past is music, with a few exceptions good music finished about the year 2000, today's music is crap.

@@boogiestreet594 I think many of the real top ones from the 60's onwards are all in the same bracket but I'll agree that the night nurse/monskfield/sea pigeon/birds nest era - saw the most competitive races and Sea pigeon was sired by Sea bird one of the best flat horses of all time. If Sea pigeon was around today he would of been aimed yearly at the- Melbourne Cup and I'm sure he would have been a multiple winner and place horse there. The horse was a real racehorse and on good ground at Cheltenham I think he could of beaten anything-its testament to his ability that he had to win it in on soft/heavy ground. Of todays horses-Hurricane Fly ranks highly with his two wins and incredible record in Ireland and obviously Istabraq who was in the same kind of abillity level-although he didn't beat sea pigeons, night nurses and Monksfields! But sea pigeon was unique. If he had remained an entire he might of won an arc!

Agreed

Without a doubt. If he had wings he'd be Pegasus.

Agree++; I remember being at Leopardstown Xmas 1980; Monksfield carrying top weight into 3rd; must have been the Sweeps hurdle; It was bucketing down, almost unraceable. He was such a little fighter

Jumping is the name of the game and sadly some dont make it

Ekbalco was an enigma.

Ekbalco was my dad's horse

@@johnfisher2529 I loved Ekbalco but always felt he just wasn´t quite at the same level as the very best. What was that other very good hurdler from the same connections whose name escapes me?

Then FOR AUTION beat both easily in champ 82 and also at leopardstown sweeps hurdle. Alderbrook should be on list

Greatest hurdler was Golden Cygnet, even without fulfilling his potential.

Pity that Espoir D'Allen died of injury suffered during training. No one could know whether he would have got had he been still alive.

Most impressive = Golden Cygnet. Most Potential = Golden Cygnet.

Yes I would put Inglis Drever in place of Quevega, but she could only win the Mares' Hurdles were she was sent. She should have been Big Buck's main challenger.

@@112sje Hi Steve, Appreciate your comments but in my view Bula light years ahead of these. Fabulous racing in the 70s and Momentous competition. Jockeys then were made of steel and sheer grit unlike today's Mamby Pamby and prima donnas. Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝

@@glynnevans1851 Yes the 1970s were a fantastic era for the Champion Hurdle and there were some great rivalries with Bulla, Comedy Of Errors, Night Nurse, Monksfield & Sea Pigeon. Persian War only has a small indoor bar named in his honour at Cheltenham but Quevega has a huge outdoor one overlooking the paddock. It should be the other way round ! I wonder if you can remember the Aintree race before Red Rum won his third Grand National; the epic duel between Monksfield & Night Nurse. Who came out on top ?

@@112sje Hi Steve, Thanks for your reply. I remember that epic duel well and it up lifted the day to a new height prior to the Momentous National as you indicate sir. Not sour grapes but if Andy Pandy had stood up ' he would of won in my view especially as he was going like an express train. Just about remember Persian War and is often forgotten also remember the ding dong battles Lanzarote had with Comedy. Do you remember the ill fated Killiney who he was sadly taken from us so prematurely . Possibly the new Arkle was in the making. Another of my favourites Spanish steps n was so genuine and gallant. Ace chatting with sir.Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands 🤝

@@glynnevans1851 Thank-you same to you. You usually need a bit of luck to win the National. Rummy might not have won in 1973 either if Grey Sombrero hadn't fallen fatally at the Chair or Crisp hit the wall on the run in, but his victory over L'Escargot, a year later was purely on merit. You probably go back further than me but I remember the affection racing fans had for Spanish Steps. I know some commentators were disgusted ( and so was I) that his name was allowed to be used again a few years ago.

Annie Power is first in this video because I put them in alphabetical order.

@@Arazi124 no it wasn't that they were in alphabetical order. Didn't think Annie P rated that high. Did you know rating of horses didn't start think till the late fifties. Which means you can't compare horses. Just opinions.

annie was a great hurdler would hammer half of these esp the old ones

Thanks for putting this up; great memories

Big Buck's was a failed chaser, as many three mile hurdlers are. Three mile hurdling shouldn't be a championship event.

Eddie they're not, I'm particularly upset by the omission of Kribensis (my favourite tropical fish).

Eddie, you must be about the same age as me, I'm 69, I can remember I was trapped indoors with my leg in plaster and about the only thing on TV in the afternoons was horse racing, and my first heroes, who always seemed to be racing, and winning were Frenchman's Cove and a prolific hunter chaser Baulking Green, plus another giant hunter chaser Pride of Ivanhoe. then of course then there were Mill House, Arkle, Fortria, Rondetto, Mandarin, Woodland Venture, Dormant, Laffy and so on. My dad use to put on a few bob for me on the Saturday races, and my first really big winner was a hurdler named Baridi who slipped the field and won easily at a long price beating hotshot the ill-fated Wilhelmina Henrietta, he eventually went on to run in the Champion Hurdle finishing about 5th or 6th to Salmon Spray. My first memory of the Derby was of Dicta Drake and Psidium. like you I remember Sea Bird II, Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerrard, and in the Oaks Sweet Solera and the great Noblesse.

Best hurdler by far was Golden Cygnet and that's without fulfilling his enormous potential. He was Pegasus in disguise, A horse with invisible wings.

He was no hurdler!

Buried at Aintree...my friend red rum didn't jump the smaller obstacles he jumped the biggest and did it better than any no other nag will compare seeing as the fences at Aintree have been made easier

Red rum is alegend at sintered not a hurdler

Uwot ?

He never beat anything decent in a poor period for hurdlers just as Buveur D'air is a moderate dual Champion Hurdler now

cant believe you left out bumfish? surely he should in there?

To 1414yorks, Your Correct! Istabraq never face the quality of the 70's hurdlers. Highest rated horse he ran against was 165 rest were below 160. The 1977 champion hurdle is regarded as the highest quality race ever run over timber

Istabraq at best would be 12th in the all time list as he beat fuck all. Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Monksfield, Comedy of Errors, Bula, Persian War.,Lanzerote, Sir Ken, See you then, Hattons Grace, Morley Stret, Alderbrook. All would have beaten him.

@@bernardthegwp71020 istabraq would piss on them all did you see the manner in which he won his races you knob jockey .

Quigley shows you no nothing about the jumping game.

Have look at the Timeform ratings!

@@chrisherbey4402 timeform ratings didn't come into fashion until the 60s. The timeform people admitted they got it wrong with sprinter sacres rating. So can't rely on them.

All the horses on this video aren't from decades ago.

The best was seapigeon night nurse brake light dramatist bird's-nest monksfield