Six of the best from the north – and half a dozen bidding to join those ranks

Stars of yesteryear . . .

Night Nurse
1976, 1977 Champion Hurdle
Ranked as the greatest hurdler ever by those who know best, Night Nurse was the best of a brilliant lot during the 'Golden Age' of hurdling. Trained by Peter Easterby at Great Habton, Night Nurse was a big, burly bully of a horse who loved to batter his rivals into submission from the front and went unbeaten in eight races through his first championship season. The following year he won arguably the best Champion Hurdle ever run, with any of the first seven home reckoned worthy winners of an 'ordinary' contest. He beat Monksfield by two lengths, but the following year was past his giddy peak and finished only third behind that rival. He went chasing after that, and at the age of ten, was runner-up to stablemate Little Owl in the 1981 Gold Cup.

Sea Pigeon
1980, 1981 Champion Hurdle
If Sea Pigeon was not the finest dual-purpose horse there has ever been it is impossible to think of a better one. Bred to win a Derby but trained by Peter Easterby to win two Chester Cups and an Ebor (under 10st), Sea Pigeon possessed an electrifying change of pace that made him the most exhilarating horse to watch. Runner-up in the Champion Hurdle behind Monksfield in 1978 and 1979, he rose to the summit the following year, winning by seven lengths. Twelve months later, under the most audacious waiting ride from John Francome, he scampered up the hill to win by a length, the joint-oldest winner of the race at the age of 11. A much-loved public hero, Sea Pigeon's versatility and attitude endeared him to all who saw him race.

Badsworth Boy
1983-85 Champion Chase
Unique in the annals of the Queen Mother Champion Chase as the only triple winner, Badsworth Boy – trained by Michael Dickinson for the first two victories and then by his mother Monica for the third –was the undisputed champion of an ordinary division, a giant among comparative pygmies. A chestnut with a big white face, Badsworth Boy was quick, very quick, sometimes too quick at his fences for his own good, and jockey Robert Earnshaw reckons him the best he rode, above Silver Buck and Wayward Lad. He won his first Champion Chase in a common canter by a distance from the elderly Artifice, then dialled down the dominance – without diminishing it in any way – in the next two runnings when winning by a mere ten lengths each time.