Legendary horse dies at grand old age of 31 as trainer remembers ‘marvellous’ European record-holder
THE legendary sprinter Tedburrow has sadly died at the grand old age of 31.
Hailed a ‘marvellous’ horse by trainer Eric Alston, Tedburrow passed away still holding onto his European record set 20 years ago.
Tedburrow matched the record for oldest winner of a European Group race when he landed the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle as a ten-year-old in 2002.
The fan-favourite hold-up horse raced an amazing 92 times in all, winning 21 races and earning more than £330,000 in prize money.
Whether it was a Class 6 at Musselburgh, Listed race at Chester or Group 3 at Leopardstown, Tedburrow won them all.
His final win was that £20,000 Pattern win in June 2002, where he triumphed at 11-1 under jockey Dean McKeown.
Tedburrow had been with Preston-based trainer Alston for 28 years and the trainer said the hugely popular thoroughbred had enjoyed a ‘good innings’.
He told the Racing Post: “He was a marvellous horse. One of the best we had.
“He was very tough as winning 21 races takes a bit of doing.
“He won a Group 3 contest when he was ten and also won the Flying Five twice.
“He nearly won it three times in a row but was beaten a head by Namid in 2000.
“He was a bit hyper when he was younger but barring that, he was all right.
“Although he pulled, he wasn’t nasty or anything and was easy to train.
“Willie Supple got on well with him and Kieren Fallon won a couple of races on him too.”
The late Philip Davies bought the unwanted Tedburrow for around £6,000 at Musselburgh in 1994.
Alston said after that record-equalling Newcastle win: “Philip thought the world of Tedburrow, and left some money in his will so that he could be looked after in his retirement.”
While jockey McKeown joked: “He’s a grand horse, it’s a pity they can’t reverse his gelding operation!”