Grand plan: Australian hurdler Big Blue being readied for Cheltenham Festival

Trainer Ciaron Maher plans to unleash his passion for jumps racing on an international scale with his Galleywood Hurdle winner Big Blue set to travel to Britain for the Cheltenham Festival.

Former jump jockey Maher, who has scored four wins as a trainer in Australia's most iconic jumps race, the Grand Annual Steeplechase, has booked the former France-based horse to fly to Europe on Wednesday to be prepared the festival in March.

Maher's training partner Dave Eustace said the adventure would be exciting for all involved. "He's obviously a very good stayer and a good jumper too, who has got to the top level here," Eustace said on Tuesday morning.

"He's got very, very sporting owners in Colin McKenna among many others. Ciaron and everyone's love of racing in the team makes it really exciting."

Big Blue jumps the last hurdle before winning the Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool in MayCredit: Vince Caligiuri

Big Blue is coming off a third place in the 2800-metre (1m5f) BM90 race on Melbourne Cup day but last season won the Randwick St Leger in Sydney to prove he is still more than capable on the Flat.

The eight-year-old Galileo gelding had his last jumps race in one of Warrnambool's May Carnival features, the Galleywood Hurdle, where he strode home an easy two-and-three-quarter-length winner.

"It will be very interesting to see how he measures up," Eustace said. "He was obviously a very high-class Flat horse in France and a bloody good jumper here, so it will be really interesting and a real adventure."

Eustace said Maher was the driving force behind the trip after visiting the Cheltenham Festival in 2018.

"He's always wanted to take a horse over there," Eustace said. "He's aware you need to take the best of the horses here to measure up, so it's been in the back of his mind for a long time.

"He looks the right horse. He's still, as a jumper, progressive and he's very lightly raced over jumps. Which race he runs in we are not sure yet because it's obviously going to be difficult giving him a handicap mark and we're still trying to work that out now. But there's lot of races he can run in."

The news was welcomed by Cheltenham, with clerk of the course Simon Claisse saying: "It’s really great news to hear that Dave Eustace and Big Blue’s connections are aiming to head over for the festival. It is always very exciting to have international runners with us. We look forward to following the team’s story in the lead up to March and wish them all the best."

Immortal Crisp best to come out of Australia

Crisp became the most famous Australian horse to run at the Cheltenham Festival when he won the race that is now the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1971.

Trained by Des Judd in Melbourne, Crisp had proved himself easily the best steeplechaser in Australia in 1969 and 1970 and was clearly too good for the small world of Australian jump racing, so his owner-breeder Sir Chester Manifold sent him to Fred Winter at Lambourn.

Only five days after his British debut, he ran away with the 1971 Champion Chase, triumphing by 25 lengths under Paul Kelleway.

Three miles proved the limit of his stamina at Cheltenham and he weakened into fifth place when favourite for the following year's Gold Cup.

Crisp comes agonisingly close to Grand National glory in 1973

He earned immortal fame with his spectacular bold-jumping, front-running display in the 1973 Grand National, when he was caught by Red Rum in the last few strides and beaten three-quarters of a length.

The most notable horse to run at the Cheltenham Festival for his original Australian trainer was Stoney Crossing, a 100-1 shot who came a remote third to Arkle and Mill House in the Gold Cup in 1965. He was owned, trained and ridden by Bill Roycroft, who had ridden him in the Olympic three-day event in Tokyo five months before.

Roycroft had won an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960 as a member of the Australian three-day event team along with Laurie Morgan, who also won the individual gold medal. Morgan rode and trained Colledge Master to win the Cheltenham Foxhunter Chase in 1961 and 1962.
John Randall

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