Dessie delights Sandown: four fantastic Tolworth winners from years gone by

The first Grade 1 of the new year takes place at Sandown today with the Unibet Tolworth Novices' Hurdle. Seven runners are set to go to post this time and all will be bidding to emulate some of the famous winners of the past. Here we look back at some of best.

Desert Orchid (1984)

One of the earliest winners of this race and undoubtedly the greatest winner. If you have any interest in racing whatsoever, you will know plenty about the exploits of 'Dessie'.

Trained by David Elsworth and ridden at Sandown by Colin Brown, Desert Orchid went on to have one of the most memorable, captivating and successful careers in the history of jumps racing.

His notable achievements after the Tolworth included winning the King George VI Chase four times, the Tingle Creek, the Irish Grand National and, famously, the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

French Holly (right): went unbeaten through his novice hurdle seasonCredit: Alec Russell

French Holly (1998)

A 14-length demolition of Grey Shot in the Tolworth Hurdle was a sign of things to come over hurdles for French Holly.

Trained by Ferdy Murphy, he had been a good bumper horse but excelled over hurdles with victory at the Cheltenham Festival in what is now the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle after his Sandown success.

He went on to gain further glory the next season with victories in the Christmas Hurdle and Prix La Barka before his career was ended by a fatal training accident in late 1999.

Noland: compiled an impressive CV during his careerCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com)

Noland (2006)

He ended his time racing with two pulled-up efforts, but there is no doubt Noland was a proper racehorse with an impressive CV.

The Tolworth Hurdle was his first major victory when surging to a five-length success and he followed up later in the season in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle under an inspired Ruby Walsh ride.

Although he was the beaten favourite in the Arkle the following season, he went on to win the John Durkan Memorial Chase, the Aon (now Denman) Chase and a Grade 3 at Down Royal.

Finian's Oscar (yellow sleeves): talented performer over hurdlesCredit: Getty Images

Finian's Oscar (2017)

His reputation was sky-high when he arrived at Sandown off the back of a win at Hereford. He did not disappoint with a serious performance as the 11-10 favourite.

Finian’s Oscar added another Grade 1 in the Mersey Hurdle at Aintree before failing by a short head to follow up at Punchestown.

Fences were trickier, but Finian’s Oscar was again a top-level scorer at Aintree before featuring in the bizarre Punchestown contest where he was carried out by an errant Al Boum Photo and Paul Townend on what proved to be his final outing.

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