How Alastair Down described Denman's incredible second Hennessy

First published on November 29, 2009

With an unforgettable performance that was enough to make the stones cry out, Denman gave us all an imperishable second Hennessy yesterday, and the beauty of this great bruiser of a chaser is that he is as big-hearted as he is brilliant.

With two Hennessys on the sideboard, he joins Arkle and Mandarin as dual winners of this benchmark chase. Mention in the same breath as those immortals puts Denman in the most elevated company conceivable and, importantly, gives him the whip hand over all the Gold Cup winners since the early 1960s, none of whom has passed through the fire of this race first as second-season novice and then as established class act, conceding lumps and there to be shot at.