Why I love Wicklow Brave: a versatile, tenacious warrior

First published on August 6, 2019, Robbie Wilders reveals why Wicklow Brave is one of his all-time favourite horses

Wicklow Brave is the only horse to have come close to matching my fondness for Highland Reel, a seven-time winner at the top level.

Wind the clock back to March 2014 and a 20-year-old novice from Kent was learning the ropes about racing, chancing his arm on the Willie Mullins-trained youngster in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Fingers were burned that day, but it was in the following years when Wicklow Brave's career really caught the imagination. Switching from hurdles to Flat in 2016, he battled memorably to deny Order Of St George in the Irish St Leger and cause a major upset.

With a Classic victory under his belt he then showed equal tenacity to repel the likes of My Tent Or Yours in the Grade 1 Punchestown Champion Hurdle while I was in attendance, a mere seven months later. Remarkable. The inspirational display gave me a fresh impetus striding into legendary Dublin nightclub Copper Face Jacks later that evening.

The versatile ten-year-old proved he still relished a battle when landing a Grade 3 novice chase at Galway a couple of months ago, in doing so cementing his status among my all-time favourites.

If there were a silk dressing gown in the colours of owners Wicklow Bloodstock I would not hesitate to put my money where my mouth is, and pay homage to the old warrior while making my morning porridge.

Read The Lowdown from 8.30am daily on racingpost.com and the Racing Post app for all the day's going updates, news and tips